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The Expertise of Illness: Celebrity Constructions and Public Understandings

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The Social Construction of Death

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Abstract

This chapter explores public responses to mediated constructions of illness and death, and uses celebrity Jade Goody’s highly documented diagnosis and death from cervical cancer during 2009 to examine tensions around ordinary and authentic experiences of illness and dying. Jade Goody found fame in 2002 in the Big Brother house (see Mathijs and Jones, 2004 for a discussion of Big Brother); since leaving, she established a celebrity profile through reality shows, a celebrity column and biographies. On 19 August 2008, whilst inside the Bigg Boss (2008) house Goody was informed of her diagnosis of cervical cancer. This was a highly visible disclosure and has been the focus of significant coverage by academics (Walter, 2008, 2009, 2010; Woodthorpe, 2010; Kavka and West, 2010), health professionals (see Cassidy, 2009), and the popular press. Much popular press coverage focused on the so-called ‘Jade Effect’ of encouraging women to undertake cervical cancer screenings (BBC, 2009; Boseley, 2009; Elliott, 2009; Sinclair, 2009; Sturcke, 2009). Goody’s high-profile ‘battle’ (see Sontag, 1978) with cervical cancer was held to have helped dramatically reverse the downward trend in women going for screening (Sinclair, 2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Humanities and Cultural Industries, Bath Spa University, UK

    Daniel Ashton (Senior Lecturer)

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  1. Daniel Ashton
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Communication Studies Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium

    Leen Van Brussel  & Nico Carpentier (Associate Professor) &  (Associate Professor)

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© 2014 Daniel Ashton

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Ashton, D. (2014). The Expertise of Illness: Celebrity Constructions and Public Understandings. In: Van Brussel, L., Carpentier, N. (eds) The Social Construction of Death. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137391919_7

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