Breast cancer (month) and society

Breast and uterine cancers are most common ones with lung and prostate cancer(mowember means anything?) if my memory serves. Both of them target females. Breast cancer can stopped from being deadly if it caught in early stages... my mom survived it twice. To make things worse every woman with breast cancer also have high probiblity of getting uterine cancer as well. Probably breast cancer is one of the easiest ones to realize by paitent so the more they aware the more they check their breast while in shower, in locker room or in bedroom while changing... it is that easy and that important.

This is why we need awareness. This is why we need to teach and remind every women of every age to check themselves, get regular smear tests. Especially if you have more than one breast cancer incident in your family line. BCRA test is because of that, the one Angeline Jolie took and removed both of her breasts... bravely.

Maybe that doesn't mean to people much but if you lived with a breast cancer survivor, watched them pick the clothes and get depressed because one of their breast is smaller than other. Wait with them for lab results if thing is malign or not by holding your breath every minute of the days which feels like years. Watch them get wracked by chemotherapy or using meds with so many bad side effects you start to care about it. Noone in their right mind would want it to happen anyone else, regardless of gender, religion or race.

Also men get breast cancer as well. Thanks to biased opinions like males don't get it, make it realized too late. Then people say breast cancer in men is very deadly.

Even if you throw aside what I wrote so far, that thing is threaten humans life, humans like your mother, sister, your girlfriend, wife, niece or that lovely neighbour across your home. I, for one, never need that month because I keep reminding every female close to me to check themselves regularly.

 

I am all for breast cancer research and awareness, but I do understand why some people would say it's overhyped. Of all of the charity half marathons and races I've done, the vast majority were for breast cancer and Susan G. Komen.

The "hype" with breast cancer can stem from the fact that it attacks a very personal part of a woman that can give her a sense of self-worth, especially among men. For men, breast cancer awareness interest can stem from the fact that it affects many women who are dear to them in their life and also by some men who fetishize women's breasts.

Frankly, breast cancer is the rockstar of cancers, if you can call it that. It just draws out universal support.

Lung cancer, on the other hand, lacks the same status as breast cancer because it still has the stigma that all cases of lung cancer are caused by smoking and people then assume that persons afflicted with this cancer brought it upon themselves. This is the same reason why you will probably never see a charity run that tries to combat obesity; people will callously say, "well, if he put down that burger and didn't supersize it, he wouldn't be obese."

 

I usually go with charities that touch me personally and donate and spend my time on those ones.. Some of them are more well known and others aren't.. I do see your point though.. The breast cancer awareness does always seem to be the most well known and one of the most heavily supported charities as well because of it.

 

As a nephew of a breast cancer survivor, I sometimes think there is too much attention put onto it. I do wear breast cancer awareness stuff certain days, but I also want other types of cancer to get the awareness they deserve. That's why I donate to the Jimmy V Foundation and not Komen because Jimmy V researches all types of cancer.