Breast Cancer Awareness Month -- October

Wear a BCA ribbon; share some hope and solidarity with your sisters around the world

Boobs. Tits. Jugs. Tatas. Dugs. Hooters. Knockers. The girls. The twins. Breasts. This is just a partial list of terms that breasts are called among Anglophones. I'm sure there are others in Arabic that I haven't heard (and don't need to know!). Whatever you call them, half of the world's population has them. Okay, so ALL of the world has them, but in half of the population, they're a bit more obvious :-P They nourish a baby when it's young, they make a grown man drool at the site of the pair, they're sometimes enhanced through surgery, they're also enhanced with padded, push-up bras or lingerie from Victoria's Secret, Frederick's of Hollywood, or La Perla, among others... no matter how you look at them, whether you wish yours were bigger or you wish they were smaller or you're happy with them, I call on women to take care of their breasts. This month, and every October, is dedicated to the prevention and awareness of breast cancer. Every month, EVERY woman should be doing a breast self exam following a shower. She should know what HER "normal" look and feel to her breasts is, so that if any changes or lumps appear, she knows that it's abnormal and needs to be checked out ASAP by a doctor or other medical professional. Breast cancer, if detected early, has a VERY high survival rate... but early detection is key in saving lives.

If any woman is unsure of how to do a BSE (breast self exam), how to do so can be found here:
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/BreastCancer/DetailedGuide/breast-cancer-detection and also here, through the Susan G. Komen Foundation: http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/BreastSelfAwareness.html (a link to the BSE "card" in Arabic is here: http://ww5.komen.org/uploadedFiles/Content_Binaries/BSA-Arabic.pdf , the official site of the Pink Ribbon, http://www.pinkribbon.org/ , the National Institute of Health's page (the NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) here: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breast and also, a young, hip, really cool site on the importance of "being pink", specifically geared towards young "at risk" women between the ages of 18 and 45, at http://www.bebrightpink.org/ -- PLEASE, PLEASE, ladies-- take care of yourselves. We hold up half of the sky, and we need to be around to be the wives, the mothers, the sisters, the daughters, the aunts, the grandmothers of the world. Without us, there would never be another life on this Earth! My Maronite priest, Abouna (Jonathan) Decker of St. Sharbel Catholic Church-Maronite Rite in Portland, OR, once gave a very inspiring homily on Mother's Day, explaining that women have a lot of power in the world. And that the men in the world need to respect them, and treat them with dignity and care at all times. He is right; we have the power, we just need to realize it for good.

As a blogger, as a woman, and as a quasi-feminist, I do want to use my blog to showcase issues facing women, both here in the United States where I'm from, and in Libya (though it'll be secondhand information) from time to time. This is only the first post that falls into that area.

Men-- please, please, encourage the women in your life to take care of their health. Encourage them to visit the sites above, or print out the info sheet for the women you love, encouraging them to take care of their health.

Do I perform a BSE every month? Yes, without fail. My health is important to me, and to those around me. I hope to be around long enough to be a burden to my children or grandchildren in the VERY distant future (say, sixty years from now). I know there's a history of breast cancer in my family, so I'm extra vigilant about doing my BSE's. Breast cancer, like all forms of cancer, does not discriminate. It's something the young, the old, the middle-aged, the rich, the poor, the middle class, the white, the black, the Arab, the Hispanic, a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, a Hindu, a Buddhist, or an atheist can all get. I'm sure EVERYONE knows at least ONE person that breast cancer has touched, whether it be an acquaintance, friend or family member. So for those women, make a pledge, or an honest effort, to wear SOMETHING pink EVERY day in October. You can fashion breast cancer awareness ribbons for yourself and your friends and loved ones quite easily and quite cheap-- perhaps a meter of pink ribbon and some pink straight pins (take a regular straight pin and some pink paint or nail polish) would fashion 10-20 ribbons for all of the women you care about. Or you could make bead bracelets (using seed beads or pony beads or any beads you find-- I have some pretty cool ones I got at Bead Bugz, which is a local bead shop here in Longview), wear a pink, sparkly hijab or scarf, to show that you're aware of this issue, you care about finding a cure for breast cancer, and to raise awareness of it. If you're at university at Al Fateh U or somewhere else, print out a copy of the above flier (you can find links to other languages at this site: http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/DownloadBSECards.html , photocopy it, and hand them out to fellow students, along with a breast cancer ribbon, for them to wear. Naturally, if it's necessary, GET PERMISSION from the campus before doing so. But whatever you do, TAKE THE STIGMA that we sometimes have out of being a woman and talking about your tatas (and also, your coochie!) with others!

Lastly, here's an awesome story about women in the West Bank of Palestine that are making a difference in their community, by educating themselves and others about breast cancer. If the stigma exists there, then I imagine it's similar other places in the Arab and Islamic world. http://www.anera.org/ourWork/education/BreastCancerAwarenessProject.php

NOTE: This post is in PINK for a reason. Pink is the color chosen to highlight this important cause... that of breast cancer awareness and breast health. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_ribbon -- for info on the pink ribbon, from the bastion and fount of knowledge, Wikipedia.