Hollywood continues to pass up opportunities to portray women without hair in a fashionable and dignified manner. General Hospital’s current series has fictional character Shirley Smith undergoing chemotherapy for brain cancer. Shirley has lost all of her hair and is seen wearing an outdated turban type of head wrap. Millions of women are watching this show and may be led to believe that this type of head wear is the only thing available if they should ever be faced with their own hair loss.
General Hospital possesses access to an enormous platform. I received a phone call from a cancer survivor who lost her own hair to chemotherapy and she was indignant that Hollywood continues to portray their characters in unflattering head wraps. Why not portray this character in a pretty head scarf that will enhance her beauty and compliment her character.
Please General Hospital - give Shirley some style and help women realize that just because they have lost their hair does not mean they have lost their style!
Susan Beausang
4women.com
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Susan - You make an excellent point!! Hollywood frequently gets it wrong when it comes to many medical conditions and seems to go toward outdated stereotyped notions. Perhaps you should start a Facebook group that demands that Shirley be given some style!
Days of our Lives has had several characters with leukemia over the years. To their credit, the show has also done some work in helping the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. You would think their engagement, and access to blood cancer experts, would encourage them to be more factual but it hasn't. One character recently needed some time off air to stay within his contract so they had him go "out of town" to donate bone marrow to his sister. The sister, however, came "back to town" a short time after he got back, and was perfectly made up and gorgeous. Had she truly had leukemia and a bone marrow transplant she would more likely have still been in the hospital at the time she suddenly showed up on air, and she certainly would not have shown up in the healthy, beautiful, fully functioning shape she was in. It is discouraging to see Hollywood do these things, especially when leukemia strikes ten times as many adults as children and they miss an opportunity to educate the public.
July 19, 2010 - 5:35pmTake care,
Pat
This Comment
I like your idea of "give Shirely a fashionable scarf" on Facebook!!!!
Susan
July 20, 2010 - 7:29am