As the media is awash with Angelina Jolie's decision to undergo a double
mastectomy to reduce her risk of developing cancer, I thought I'd add my two
cents' worth. Guardian journalist Hadley Freeman wrote about Jolie's
announcement as something that overturns public perception of celebrity lives.
By introducing fragility, by humanising a body many have seen as an icon of
female sexuality, Jolie has taken steps away from the copy-selling frenzy of
the press and redefined to some degree the way we perceive ourselves.
Jolie's piece in The New York Times was a quiet account of her mother's suffering, her wish to protect her kids and her personal health choice. No fanfare, this is not Lara Croft talking. We've all had scares and it's damned frightening. And friends who so bravely face the brutal treatment we have at hand today. Yet, ask any Western doctor what causes this terrible disease and you will get the eye-roll or hands raised martyr-style in the air.
In Italy breasts are currency and you can travel far with a good rack. You can't turn on the television or enter a newsagents without being knocked out by a pair. If you go to the dentist, you will see that every self-respecting young mother or ageing star has a lovely set of melons. You will hear your daughter talking about breast enhancement as something viable, something her friends might be considering. You will see the mothers at school with perky sweaters and puffy lips.
You may even back away from a conversation where middle-aged men are discussing what fake boobs feel like - how they stand up when the woman lies down on the bed. How they taste just as good.
It's totally out of control. Women's bodies are no longer governed by what is the natural progression (or cup size) of our lives. So often I am horrified by what women do to themselves. And for what reason? Fame and fortune? Because you had a kid? Will it stop your man from straying? Does it help you feel younger on the inside?
Jolie's piece in The New York Times was a quiet account of her mother's suffering, her wish to protect her kids and her personal health choice. No fanfare, this is not Lara Croft talking. We've all had scares and it's damned frightening. And friends who so bravely face the brutal treatment we have at hand today. Yet, ask any Western doctor what causes this terrible disease and you will get the eye-roll or hands raised martyr-style in the air.
In Italy breasts are currency and you can travel far with a good rack. You can't turn on the television or enter a newsagents without being knocked out by a pair. If you go to the dentist, you will see that every self-respecting young mother or ageing star has a lovely set of melons. You will hear your daughter talking about breast enhancement as something viable, something her friends might be considering. You will see the mothers at school with perky sweaters and puffy lips.
You may even back away from a conversation where middle-aged men are discussing what fake boobs feel like - how they stand up when the woman lies down on the bed. How they taste just as good.
It's totally out of control. Women's bodies are no longer governed by what is the natural progression (or cup size) of our lives. So often I am horrified by what women do to themselves. And for what reason? Fame and fortune? Because you had a kid? Will it stop your man from straying? Does it help you feel younger on the inside?
Instead nobody talks about health issues. About research. About checkups. About
lifestyle choices. If all the money spent on silicone had been pumped into
research I bet we would be closer to a cure by now. Instead, how much more money
is to be made by foisting this sad aesthetic upon us and filling our beautiful
daughters with insecurity? For now, breast cancer is here to stay, and we can
only do ourselves a favour by talking about it.I never thought I would be saying Thank You, Angelina. (Especially after seeing that spy thriller on the plane a couple of years back.) I've always thought you were a beautiful but slighty contrived actress. But hey, you've snared Brad Pitt who earned 7 million for that Chanel commercial.. and you have a whopper body, mansions galore, the world at your feet...
But you're just as vulnerable and afraid as the rest of us.
Angie, very best wishes to you and your family. And thanks.
Guess what? I agree! I never liked her or any part I saw her in, but I back her 100% for this choice. Maybe a few women will figure out that it isn't boobs that makes anyone sexy, pretty, desirable and certainly not feminine. I probably wouldn't rebuild, but then I am not a movie star. She must have been tempted to go Audrey Hepburn for at least 4 seconds.
ReplyDeleteYes pretty brave I think too. And raising awareness - and courage - is so valuable. I was also interested in the looking-at-boobs-differently aspect, given they are viewed as crucial to a woman's femininity here. Health is so much more important!
DeleteCan't imagine a movie star choosing to go flatsie!
I think Angelina Jolie is wonderful. She seems intelligent and as you say, she has Brad Pitt, and they have a tribe of children they seem devoted to. What a brave decision to make and how terrifying to go through with it.
ReplyDeleteI am also horrified by the fake boobs and bicycle pumped lips I see here in Italy. One woman in the village has had fat sucked from her bum and injected I to her lips!!!! Surely the husbands are not behind this. The women look like aliens. What terrible insecurities are happening with girls and women?
I am 60 and happy to have wrinkles and a few saggy bits. At the pool one day somebody suggested I get the spider veins in my legs removed. I replied that I had earned them and I was keeping them. Nobody wants to look unattractive, but since when is old age ugly?
I agree! I think of all the stylish women I know who have lived full lives and how naturally beautiful they are. I also wonder what the teenage kids of these deformed and pumped up women think. I was in London in a downmarket teen shop with my daughter when in breezed an Italian television personality, a woman who used to be big in the nineties. OMG. I had to look away. It was frightful. I don't know if something had gone wrong but she looked like a very unhappy clown! And she was dressed more teenage than the daughter who was trailing after her...
DeleteYes to crows' feet and spider veins.
Dammit!!! I just typed the longest rant and it was deleted when I tried to post.
ReplyDeleteSo in short .... I love this post and I understand, since I live in the land of Breast Enhancement, the land where no one's natural breasts are big enough or round enough of perfect enough.
I applaud Angelina for making this decision, and for announcing it in a well-written, well-thought-out essay instead of going on camera where her words would have been lost. Lost, because all anyone would have been really thinking about would have been, "Can you tell? Do they look the same?" And that she was able to keep this long process a secret for months?? Good for you, Angie!
Sorry you lost your rant Teri! Nothing makes me madder..
DeleteI also live in the land of unnatural enhancement and that's why I wanted to talk about breast health instead of breast bounce. And I agree the New York Times article was purposeful and well-conceived. Being invisible stripped her from being gawked at and, as you say, made her message so much stronger. Very effective and also earnest I think. I'm sure as you say there will still be a press frenzy over the 'new Angie' but I won't be reading about that. She has made her point admirably and given us plenty of food for thought.
At the risk of being 'controversial' there has been a counter argument to this. While I also say this is a very brave move by Angelina - there is no guarantee that by having her breasts removed that she will be less at risk that she was before the surgeries - the risk of having such surgery in itself can be very high. The company that screens for the genetic mutation has the PATENT on it and her 'coming out' has seen their shares soar on the stock market - they do not know how or what role these 2 genes have in developing Breast Cancer - I hope for her sake it IS/WAS the right decision.
ReplyDeleteNo worries Ingrid, this is controversy corner! I'm quite blown away by what you've written and it pains me deeply to think that more money might be generated by encouraging women's fears rather than addressing women's illnesses. I guess there will be a rush to be tested now - although this makes sense if the disease is in your family. It's awful to think: is there more money to be made in finding a possible cure, or developing treatment strategies? I didn't realise the connection between these two genes and having the illness was so vague. I remember a while back I did a translation of a brochure for a new fancy private clinic - there are so many of them here! - and most of the services offered were dealing with cancer treatment or sports injuries! What does that tell you about modern society?
DeleteHer NYT piece was surprising (in a good way). Too often, when a celebrity speaks about his or her ailments it comes off as self-serving, but Ms. Jolie's account was sincere and written to draw attention to something larger than herself. I think there's real courage in that brand of sincerity.
ReplyDeleteYes I thought it was an odd window into a life that must be entirely distorted by the press. And I see it has already brought these issues to the fore. There is such reluctance to talk about our vulnerability in the face of fear and illness. I was surprised (in a good way) too!
DeleteI'm so glad you wrote about this and I can't believe I haven't read her piece in the NYTimes. I will now. I've always been so impressed with Angelina when I've listened to her in interviews. Dare I say she has a depth about her and her actions convey such compassion. I pray for her family's sake that this works and appreciate her courage to share this publicly.
ReplyDeleteIt must be so weird being a celebrity, and stepping into the fray as she has done with this article certainly gives weight to her UN work and makes her seem a 3-dimensional person rather than a figment of the press' imagination. I haven't heard her interviewed but I do agree that her non-film work seems to show a rare compassion. Brave lady.
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