ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how one coalition of activists is attempting to reveal the gap between the appearance of, and the practices enabled by, national breast cancer awareness month (NBCAM) or, in the words of one advocate, "to rip off the mask of polluter-sponsored Breast Cancer Awareness Month." It analyzes one of toxic links coalition's (TLC) tours as a cultural performance that attempted rhetorically to invent a space for resisting the discourse promoted by NBCAM. The chapter reviews public sphere scholarship and discusses the importance of studying counterpublics, the possibilities of such arenas, and the usefulness of drawing on participant observation to study the cultural performances that constitute them. It examines NBCAM's influence on public dialogue about cancer and TLC's response as concrete examples of the form and function of the cultural performances of a "feminist counterpublic". TLC's campaign is based on resistance to NBCAM insofar as its prevalence has limited public deliberation through focusing on breast cancer detection.
