Angelina Jolie, cancer, and why you might have privilege too...

I got severely shitty with the large number of “check your privilege” tweets on twitter today about Angelina Jolie’s news that she had opted for preventative bilateral total mastectomies due to her genetic risk for breast cancer. My reasons for being so grumpy went deeper than 140 characters could explain, so I kept my mouth shut and waited until I got home to write this.
The fundamental issue I had is that there is only one reason to have a preventative mastectomy, and that is to avoid a condition that could KILL you. So if you are worried about anything other than survival, when you read about Angelina Jolie’s choice, Check YOUR privilege.

YES, that’s right. If you didn’t get a cold fucking chill down the back of your neck, and that little voice in your head saying “I know why she did that”. CHECK YOUR FUCKING PRIVILEGE.

I’m not saying that you haven’t had to think about death, dying, or risk to your life.

In fact, most people, by the time they hit 50 have probably had some form of lump or bump, or scary moment that has meant they have sat down and written a will, and thought about their life-span and how long it may be.

But MOST of us had those moments thrust upon us.

I didn’t go out looking for trouble. It came to me.

My friend didn’t expect to find a fatal cancer, it was caught by her lovely GP.

My Uncle didn’t expect to start having seizures for no reason – but he did.

And THEN, and only then, did we start to take action to do with our own mortality.

It takes courage to look death in the face and make sensible choices. To take steps to decide to fight. Perhaps even to stop fighting, and make the decision to turn and face it and make the most of time remaining.

It takes bravery.

It also takes time, and support and endless cups of tea and good people.

A lot of people don’t look.

They avoid check-ups.

They skip prostate exams.

They delay mammograms.

They don’t visit the doctor, because “everyone has blood in their poop sometimes.”*

They make excuses, they look the other way. They avoid the issue.

Because this shit is HARD people.

And this woman didn’t just deal with something when it came to her, she anticipated it, sought out the hard truth about her mother’s death and faced her own mortality. Took some MASSIVE steps to avoid a bad outcome in the future, and has reduced her risk.

But this took courage, and the insight that her body wasn’t in her control. That her genetic code could eventually turn against her.

A real understanding that she could die.

And that’s not a privilege, that’s life. But I think you missed the point if you are worried about who paid.

*they don’t. Always check with your doc if your poop has changed or you notice blood.

Cameron Russell - TED talk

I rarely put links up without writing about the topic around them first.

This needs no introduction or explanation, and is worth a look.
As someone who has appeared emaciated she was so skinny, and progressed to be on the "obese" end of the BMI spectrum, what she says about attractiveness, perception and insecurity rings SO true. How I feel inside my own body has done nothing but improve, and yet the world around me is less and less accepting of my place in it.
I love how she pointed out the perception of appearance so effectively, and I adore her quick and effective points about discrimination on the grounds of appearance and race.
Thank you.