Of late, it has become fashionable to trivialize and sexualize this disease under the guise of raising awareness. I used to think those cute t-shirts were ok, too. But now that it is more personalized for me, I understand better how that sort of product does nothing to further awareness or help in any way. People love to wear "Save the Ta-Tas" shirts but would they wear one that says "Opt for a bi-lateral mastectomy to lower your risk of breast cancer recurrence."
Breast cancer is a "women's issue". And it's hard for me to understand the male perspective without projecting, but I really feel these campaigns come from the male perspective. I have no beef with raising awareness. That movement has done a ton of good for fundraising and funding research, thanks in part to the massive amount of non-government funding from private foundations and others - Avon, Susan G. Komen, etc. Breast Cancer takes the biggest bite out of the National Cancer Institutes budget as well. So raising awareness is good. Then again with the incidence also skyrocketing, it would be hard to ignore.
The type of awareness that needs to be spread is that there are gene markers that mean almost certainly one will get breast cancer in their lifetime, and that other types of cancer also have an elevated risk. That there are tests available to determine if one has that gene mutation. That often, the first bout of breast cancer, if caught early, is non-fatal, but if it recurs, it is much more likely to kill you. That women are whole even without boobs, that hair is inconsequential and that cancer is completely utterly incurable. You can stop it and hope that it will never start again, but that's the best one can hope for. (Life insurance companies know this... one cannot get a policy if diagnosed with cancer.)
Raising awareness of screening is also good, but what is being taught would have killed me. For women like me, a mammogram is not really the answer. My mammos from two weeks ago still look clean. Women with dense breast tissue need to be taught to be extra vigilant. Likewise, with the placement of my tumor, it can't really be felt. So a self-exam would not have found it. Women need to be assured that any visual change needs to be investigated. Even if it hurts, because sometimes, cancer can hurt.
For the younger generation, who feel invincible and immortal, it's about the boobs. When young women get diagnosed, they often opt for a less aggressive protocol. They want to save their boobs or hair. And that is really the beef I have with the current campaigns. The sexual innuendo of "Feel your boobies" or "I (heart) Boobies" is apparent. For those of us about to lose a part of our bodies that our culture worships as a proxy for feminine sexuality, it's a slap in the face. It really isn't about saving the ta-tas... it's about saving the life.
Two articles that say it better than me:
Felicia Powers
Peggy Orenstein
Yes! Genetic markers are so important - - and unfortuanately testing is VERY expensive. My insurance company was charged close to $3,000 for mine, which only went through at the insistance of my surgeon. Like most I was on the cancer awarness wagon of buying products with pink ribbons and self-exams. What I didn't know then, was that the drug given to many post radiation/chemo cancer breast cancer survivors, Tamoxifen, is now very tentatively being perscribed propylactically for those with high genetic risk. Research has shown that Tamoxifen's benenfits can greatly decrease a high-risk woman's chance of developing breast cancer. I can only imagine the lives this drug might have saved if doctors were able to proactively care for their patients who fit into this category. Insurance companies would rather you feel your ta-tas.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! The modern movement to raise cancer awareness is both superficial and meaningless. A book that opened my eyes a lot to the modern conception of cancer is The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Davis. It is very well written. I highly recommend it.
ReplyDeleteWow. I've never really thought it through from this perspective before. Thanks for that enlightenment.
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