Female Fights: #6 Susan G. Komen
In 2012, women put up a good fight to defend their interests, even as others fought for their favor. Here are the year's top female fights, as measured by search volume and percentage spikes compared with 2011 on Yahoo!.
An unexpected entry in this category was Susan G. Komen for the Cure, better known for pink ribbons and half-marathons. The breast cancer awareness foundation, citing an investigation by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., pulled funding from Planned Parenthood. Critics blamed behind-the-scenes abortion politics by its vice president for public policy, Karen Handel.
The uproar triggered a radical drop in race attendance and a staff turnover that included the resignation of CEO and founder Nancy Brinker. Komen reversed its decision, but the Komen brand was damaged. (Stearns would later lose in the primary election, and Handel published a book, "Planned Bullyhood," asserting that Planned Parenthood had politicized the situation, although Catholic bishops had been pressuring Komen not to fund Planned Parenthood.)
