At what odds would you want someone second-guessing you?
Subjective rant in 3…2…
This one’s for those with opinions about Angelina Jolie’s boobs, especially those who don’t have ’em. Sadly, it seems even some women don’t get this. Generally, I couldn’t give less of a crap about celebrity anything, but I’ve got a soft spot for her. I respect her for the difficult decision she made. I mean, seriously…you think it was an easy decision? Step into her mind for a moment (at least as I imagine it…you might imagine it differently).
“Hey, there’s this part of me I’ve been fretting about since I was a pimple-faced kid, that society says is more important than my brains, talent, or character, that I get judged by more often than not, and that, when dealing with men, probably has a huge effect on how much money I make, and when dealing with women probably causes all kinds of catty unspoken criticisms for being either too big or not big enough or being the real cause of any success I have, like *I* didn’t have anything to do with it. Oh, and it’s surgery, so this shit is gonna hurt. And I’ll never get to see myself in the mirror again like I used to. And I might have to second-guess whether I’m more important than my boobs to a guy who could have his pick of other women.”
Other than that? It’s none of my damned business. I know this, though. If a doctor said I’ve got a significant chance of being killed by crotch cancer, and we agree on the essence of significant, that shit’s coming off. My manhood and my humanity are defined by who I am and what I show everyone, not by a bit of extra meat-baggage. Would I be scared and probably have issues forever? Sure. But I’d be alive to have those issues. As for anyone that dared to fucking[1] question that decision? That’s the moment that person stops mattering even a little.
[1] Any question, even hypothetical, of my possible castration or anything approximating it merits an f-bomb in my book. If there were an even worse word to use for amplification, I’d use it.
Here’s Rosalarian‘s take on the matter.
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Image credit: John Morgan. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Categories: Health, Race/Gender
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 
You could make a case for prophylactic removal of women’s breasts as voodoo science. Sayer Ji did at GreenMedInfo.com
http://www.readability.com/read?url=http%3A//www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/did-angelina-jolie-make-mistake-acting-breast-cancer-gene-theory
I’m really not a huge Jolie fan, and I don’t think that celebrities deserve the pedestals they stand on. But I respect her for making this decision, and I applaud her using her position in our culture to talk openly about women’s health and preventative health measures – if this gets more women to keep up with their own health, then it’s worth it.
The fact that she actually acknowledged her decision and action is pretty amazing. Given her money’s ability to buy high-quality medical care and privacy (no, quit laughing–this did not make the cover of the Enquirer and they’re probably kicking themselves over missing the scoop), she could have had surgery and implants that made her look identical to her previous appearance and no one would have been the wiser. Could have just chalked her absence up to a little private vacation. I wish her the best.
Christina Applegate also went through this in 2008. I would hope these examples and others like them would show the woman on the street that there is nothing “wrong” in getting treatment and that men who say there is need to pull their heads out of their asses.
i think removing body parts is a bit more than treatment. by the same logic, i should have my prostate removed. i’m uneasy with this as a treatment procedure, both because it seems to be drastic and because it seems premature. having said that, it’s her body and i think it’s inappropriate to condemn the move (or to praise it, frank.)