Breast Cancer, Angelina Jolie and The Value of Life

There is a lot of information written about breast cancer out there, so I am not really planning to focus much on what breast cancer is, or how it can affect your life. The truth is, everyone who has experienced and survived this horrible diagnosis could actually talk about the adverse consequences it has on the life of a woman. I recently read an article about the benefits of being a woman, but actually rarely anyone talks about all the negatives. I was inspired to write this article because of the recent decision of Angelina Jolie to undergo a preventative double mastectomy (breast removal). 

Long story short, Angelina lost her mother, who fought breast cancer bravely but without much success and died back in 2007. It appears that Jolie is also a carrier of this "unlucky" gene which predicted an 87% chance of developing breast cancer. The double mastectomy she underwent now reduced her chances to under 5%. While I am writing this, I can only imagine how much courage this decision requires and I can only say "hats off!". Most celebrities as well as the entire celebrity culture is so obsessed with curves, looks, boobs and skinny waists, that I am sure a lot of its representatives would rather die young and gorgeusly looking. However, Angelina Jolie claims that having suffered the loss of her mother to this awful disease, she doesn't want her children Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Viv and Knox to experience the same. She further adds: “I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy,” Angelina said in the column appearing May 14. “But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”

Even though she is happy with her decision it was not accepted without controversy in society and there are a lot of mixed feelings in the wider audience. Commenters snarked that Jolie had received a “boob job.” Some suggested that her medical emergency was just a tabloid ruse to cover up elective breast implants. Others morbidly asked after the whereabouts of the breast tissue removed from her body. “RIP Angelina’s boobs” was also a typical ignorant comment. In the words of Ammanda Hess: "These comments affect every woman who has undergone a similar procedure—every woman who has overcome the pain, the fear, and the constant and casual reminders that her breasts are more valuable than her life. Really, these comments affect all women who have seen their bodies reduced to mere objects for others to consume."

There are a lot of things you could do to try and reduce the risk of developing breast cancer and more on that I will talk in later articles. A member of cleaners from Canterbury shares that an Early Detection Plan is a must!