Pink ribbons and feminine symbols aside, breast cancer also affects men. However, many assume men cannot develop breast cancer because campaigns are often focused on a female demographic.
In Theresa Brown’s article in the New York Times, she describes how the color pink underscores the concept of retaining femininity while battling breast cancer, and how it understates the severity of the disease as a whole.
“‘Be more than pink,’ the Susan G. Komen website says. […] The phrase suggests that pink doesn’t tell the whole story of breast cancer,” Brown says in the New York Times.
In fact, the phrase does not tell the whole story of what it is like to combat the disease as it focuses on a gendered color to raise awareness to a disease affecting males as well.
Upon exploration concerning breast cancer, the website for The National Breast Cancer Foundation does not have immediate mention or outreach to men who suffer from the disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, many men are not diagnosed with breast cancer until later stages, which often proves fatal.
“Men diagnosed with male breast cancer at an early stage have a good chance for a cure. Still, many men delay seeing their doctors if they notice one of the usual signs or symptoms, such as a breast lump,” staff of the Mayo Clinic say.
It is no wonder many men are not aware of their disease or even know breast cancer is a possibility they may face. The ignorance of breast cancer symptoms and ultimate fatality of male patients could be partially due to the pink-centric awareness focused on women.
The lack of knowledge to check for male breast cancer is also due to the rarity of this cancer in the male population.
According to The American Cancer Society, the likelihood of a man being diagnosed with breast cancer is drastically lower than females.
“Breast cancer is about 100 times less common among men than among women. For men, the lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is about one in 1,000,” staff with The American Cancer Society say.
In another article by American Cancer Society, they highlight Breast Cancer Awareness Month, yet fail to mention men.
“Thanks to earlier detection—through screening and increased awareness—and better treatments, a woman’s risk of dying of breast dropped 38 percent between the late 1980s and 2014, translating into 297,300 fewer breast cancer deaths during that time,” staff with The American Cancer Society say.
While breast cancer for women is obviously a painful and terrible disease and affects a large number of women which should be recognized, breast cancer in males can be harder to treat.
According to BreastCancer, men who face breast cancer experience larger cancerous masses, more aggressive cancer cells and metastasis in their lymph nodes. If male breast cancer received even half as much publicity as that of females, there might be an increase of early diagnosis and maybe even a chance of remission.
Breast cancer should be treated as a serious disease and not be defined by the stereotypical color of femininity, which leaves males unaware and unprepared for a disease they could acquire or have already developed.