Event 2

I attended the event on May 4, 2017, the "Chemical Entanglements: Gender and Exposure. Laura E. Gómez gave a welcome speech then Rachel C. Lee gave a short speech about the program. Florence Williams gave a lecture about the "burden of breasts." When I first walked in I had no idea what to expect or why they were even talking about breasts. Florence focused mostly on the history of breasts, the use of them, and why they are a burden to have.

 

 The first part of Florence's lecture, she focused on her book. She started off with the history of the mammary glands and how sensitive they are. Humans evolved breasts on accident and mammary glands were originally developed for immune support. They are a disembodied organ. The mammary glands take blood and convert it into milk, but it never learned how to exclude what shouldn't be in there. Williams went on to explain she sent a sample of her breast milk to be tested for chemicals. From that sample, she shared that the chemicals most present were Percolate (Jet Fuel), Flame Retardant, and DDT (Pesticide). These chemicals are in found in just about every woman in the world.
  For the second part of her lecture,  she mentioned more about the leading cause of breast cancer and elaborated more on harmful chemicals. She mentioned that women would cut their breast off to avoid cancer but because of the mammary glands being so sensitive they develop tumors.  She also explained that girls who were exposed to X-rays early were most likely to be exposed to cancer. She also gave us an ending remark which asked us to tell our narrative and empower the rest of women to stand up and fight for their right to a healthy life. 
 

 

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