Breast Cancer and Femininity: A Compare and Contrast
Our society's main focus today is body image. It is promoted in magazines, newspapers, television shows and on billboards. Women are based on the physical aspect of their breasts, for these breasts are a symbol of their femininity. Breast cancer is the number one leading cause of cancer death in women today and unfortunately the number of cases reported continues to rise. When faced with this life threatening disease, the one physical aspect women are based upon is taken away from them to stay alive and their femininity is questioned. The similarities and differences between four women authors, Betty Rollin, Diane Craig Chechik, Audre Lorde and Evelyne Accad, who have survived breast cancer, show that a woman's femininity is based on her mind, not on her breasts.
School:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department:
English / Rhetoric
Research Advisor:
Alice Deck
Department of Research Advisor:
English
Year of Publication:
2003