And the Subtext Is . . .

It's good to know what Florence Williams' half-hour presentation tells us, that if breast cancer had not erupted in a group of men who shared exposure to the same environmental toxins during the same interval, we might still be waiting to learn that at least some breast cancers are caused by substances human beings have put into our environment. Read this sentence two ways: [1] as usual, something bad that happens to men is more notable and more consequential than the same something bad that happens one hundred forty-three times more often to women, and [2] the American "scientific community" has only recently been prodded into paying attention to (i.e., funding research into) hypotheses like "carcinogens cause breast cancer." Both interpretations are reasons to be angry, but Williams keeps her tone level: she's reporting, engaging her listeners' interest, not pushing any conclusions at them. I certainly learned from listening, but I'd like to have learned more, and I think I could have if Williams had trimmed some description and narrative to include more factual details..

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