Breast Cancer

In 1971 U.S. President Richard M. Nixon declared a war on cancer and put more than $100 million into cancer research due to public outcry against the disease. Cancer kills more than half a million Americans each year of the most common types of the disease was also one of the first identified in humans, breast cancer. Physicians have recognized it for thousands of years. However years of research and hundreds of millions of dollars have not resulted in an exact cause or cure. Breast cancer is still a major health problem in the early-twenty-first century and one out of eight American women was diagnosed with the disease in 2005 Epidemiology, and End Results Program. The history of breast cancer is filled with controversy because of the highly gendered nature of the disease and the status of the female breast as a cultural symbol of sexuality.

Breast cancer diagnosis and its related treatment inflict physical as well as psychosocial discomfort on patients. Some discomforts such as fatigue and hair loss are transitory, but others such as weight gain, premature menopause, and the loss of a breast linger on. Research focuses most of its attention on the effect of breast surgery on women's sexuality and body image. The mystique of a woman's breast in popular culture has deeply affected how women and men view themselves and their partners. Popular media reinforces these images by linking a woman's beauty to a slim, fit body with large breasts. Even the ACS held breast cancer survivors to these standards of beauty. During the 1980s, Darlene Betteley, a volunteer for the Reach to Recovery Program, was required to wear a prosthesis for hospital visits because the ACS did not want women who just had a mastectomy to be reminded of how the surgery changed a woman's exterior. According to the ACS, a woman without a breast is not a normal woman and volunteers were expected to look normal during hospital visits.

A majority of women who had mastectomies did not undergo breast reconstruction, even when the procedure would be covered by medical insurance. Empirical studies on the impact of breast surgery on the quality of life among survivors revealed mixed findings. Some reported that women who had lumpectomies were more satisfied with their body image and marital relationships than women who had mastectomies, but others reported no significant differences between the two groups in terms of psychological well-being and marital relationships. Another effect of breast cancer treatment on a woman's body is weight gain. Studies confirmed that weight gain and obesity are common in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Weight gain was also related to higher rates of breast cancer recurrence and mortality, in particular in women who had never smoked.

The post-World War II generation of women transformed societal reactions toward breast cancer because of their own breast cancer experiences. These courageous women challenged cultural norms about women's breasts and empowered patients'

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