Photo of Audre Lorde
From family
members, to friends, neighbors, and co-workers, almost every person has had
close contact with at least one woman who has battled breast cancer. I am no
exception to this, having known many women from all of these categories who
have faced this disease, some of whom did not survive. Though I think these stories are important to
relate, I will use alias names to protect the privacy of these women. They not
only faced the terror of cancer, but also the realities of the expectations of
women in society. From the double mastectomy of Jan, a former coworker, and the
realities of hair loss of Ann, a current coworker, to the lifelong battles of
Belle and Betty, neighbors and family friends, I have watched them develop a
strength, necessary to reclaim their lives from the grasp of societal
expectations.
Though their
stories are not in the public eye, other women have stepped up to reveal the
systematic structures underlying approaches to breast cancer in their own
lives. In The Cancer Journals, Audre
Lorde (1997) narrates her experiences with breast cancer, a mastectomy, and the
realities of her struggles as a black lesbian feminist, already faced with many
prejudices of society in the forms of racism, sexism, and heterosexism. Lorde
reveals that breast cancer is far more than a physical disease. It is a
tangible representation of how U.S. culture contributes to the necessity of
women to fight, becoming warriors for their life. She eloquently phrases this
revelation, saying that, “Well, women with breast cancer are warriors...I have
been to war, and still am. So has every woman who had had one or both breasts
amputated because of the cancer that is becoming the primary physical scourge
of our time. For me, my scars are an honorable reminder that I may be a
casualty in the cosmic war against radiation, animal fat, air pollution,
McDonald's hamburgers and Red Dye No. 2, but the fight is still going on, and I
am still a part of it. I refuse to have scars hidden or trivialized behind lambs’
wool or silicone gel. I refuse to be reduced in my own eyes or in the eyes of
others from warrior to mere victim...I refuse to hid my body simply because it
might make a woman-phobic world more comfortable” (Lorde, 1997, p. 62).
Lorde names
the role of sexism in cancer, and how views of the proper female body are
expected to be passively maintained, regardless of the changes treatment brings
to a woman’s body. However, as Lorde and the experiences of those we know more
personally portray, women are more than the biopolitical constructions of their
body by society; They have a voice, opinions, and an identity that needs to be acknowledged,
without blame being placed upon them for their contraction of cancer. For amid societal
expectations, these women face a changing self-identity, fighting for their
individuality in a battle for their life.
Controlling
human lives has long been a goal of society and its governing bodies in all
aspects of health, identification, and function. Michel Foucault (1978)
recognized this desire, identifying it as biopower, or the control of people
through how life is lived. Typically, it is implemented in very neoliberalist
or utilitarian way, aiming to improve the overall wellbeing of the population through
the lives of the individuals. A woman’s body is not an exception to this by any
means. The structures of U.S. have put women in a pronounced “feminine” role as
reproductive machines and caretakers of other members of society. Biopolitics,
the implementation of biopower, have striven to maintain this role for the
overall wellbeing of the population. They encourage women to take care of
themselves in protection strictly of reproductive organs while still living up
to an image of femininity.
This is
obvious, especially within the biomedical community, not only in the U.S but on
a worldwide scale. As Mohammad Haidari, Sarah Shahbazi, and Mansureh Ghodust
(2015) word it in their article which can be found here evaluating mental
health in women how have had a mastectomy, “Due to the important role of
breasts in women, their reaction to mastectomy may be in the form of fear,
hopelessness, depression, and negative attitude about their body. As breasts
are considered as important parts of imagining a women’s body, any
abnormalities… can lead to negative body esteem.” (p. 173). Society has placed
great importance on breasts as a sign of femininity, encouraging the
reproductive role of a woman within the population. Lorde (1997) specifically
talks about this view at several points in her account, noting that when she
had a mastectomy of one of her breasts, she received very negative reactions to
the imbalance. The doctor office staff even requested that she wear a form or
prosthetic so as to not allow a lowering of morale among the other women. Likewise,
my coworker Ann received skepticism for not covering her bald head, as hair is
another symbol of femininity. They were expected to maintain the identity that
society had given them, regardless of the signs their battle rest upon them.
Figure 2: Why Struggle?
With these
expectations thrust upon them, women battling breast cancer must also face the
changing of their identity from their experience. While they are redefining
themselves, as Lorde (1997) phrases it, society labels these women as victims
or as disabled. Again, this is present in the biomedical discourse around
breast cancer. While studying the impacts of breast cancer on women after a
successful mastectomy, Anna Giardini et al (2012) continuously phrased the
changed body as disabled, as can be seen here. Lorde (1997) fought against this
endlessly. My family friends, Belle and Betty, relayed their struggle with
societies perceptions of them during their multiple battles to me on multiple
occasions. They expressed anger at being considered incapable and weak, reaching
for strength and independence in their lives. They viewed themselves as more
than society had deemed them, wanting a positive change in their identity from
their experience. As Lorde (1997) states, “Within this time of assertion and
growth, even the advent of life-threatening cancer and the trauma of a
mastectomy can be integrated into the life force as knowledge and eventual
strength, fuel for a more dynamic and focused existence” (p.64-65). These women
fought to be more than a compliant, passive reproductive being in society; they
had a voice and a self-perception, completely distinct from they had been
given.
Women with
breast cancer, which is notably among the most common forms of cancer, also
fought to hold the culture in which they lived responsible for its role in
their illness while they were blamed for failing to take care of themselves in
a way that maintained their status as a reproductive body to be used for the
good of the whole population. Lorde (1997) noted that she was surrounded by
factors, such as unhealthy food and radiation, that contributed to her illness.
My former coworker, Jan, accounted the role that the chemicals in the dry
cleaners in which she worked played, and the role of stress she had undergone
for years. Belle and Betty lived between two power plants, notorious for toxic
fumes coming down on the town between them. All of these women were told that
they had not properly taken care of their body, regardless of the role that the
environment played in their health.
The structures
against women, in their many forms, have put tremendous pressure on them to
maintain the appearance and behavior of femininity, of a reproductive being
contributing to the good of society. Women with breast cancer are blamed for
their health outcomes and are then expected to cover the marks of their battle,
both physical and mental. They struggle to reconstruct their identity, in spite
of the judgments of society. Their voices are muted, in fear of affecting women
who accept the biopolitical role that they were given. Yet, as a cry in the
dark, Lorde (1997) declares, “I alone own my feelings” (p. 79), refusing to be
smothered by societal pressure. She gives a much needed voice to the women who
battle breast cancer, such as Jan, Ann, Belle, and Betty. Each woman has a
unique and changing identity to which they are entitled. For all the people in
our lives fighting this fight, we must give them a voice – a chance to accept their
experiences and scars into their personhood, which is much more than structures
of the world in which they live.
References
Foucault, M.
(1978). The history of sexuality (1st
American ed.). New York: Pantheon Books.
Giardini, A.
et al. (2012, October 10). ICF, quality of life, and depression in breast
cancer: perceived disability in disease-free women 6 months after mastectomy. Support Care Cancer 21(1): 2453-2460.
Heidari, M.,
Shahbazi, S., & Ghodusi, M. (2015). Evaluation of body esteem and mental
health in patients with breast cancer after mastectomy. Journal of Mid-Life Health 6; 173-177.
Lorde, A. (1997).
The Cancer Journals: Special Edition.
San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books.
Picture
Sources
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Audre-Lorde.jpg
https://donnatrussell.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/gloomygusfinal.jpg
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