IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v110y2014icp56-63.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The breast-cancer-ization of cancer survivorship: Implications for experiences of the disease

Author

Listed:
  • Bell, Kirsten

Abstract

Numerous observers have commented on the cultural prominence of breast cancer in North America. However, although popular and biomedical conceptions of cancer survivorship have been influenced to an inordinate degree by breast cancer, few researchers have examined the impact of dominant discourses on people diagnosed with other forms of cancer. Drawing on interviews with 32 Canadian men and women with a history of cancer conducted between 2010 and 2013, I demonstrate that breast cancer became central to their own experiences of cancer, providing an important lens through which to understand the effects of the disease. The effects of these comparisons were diverse, leading some participants to want to differentiate themselves from this implicit norm, leading others to downplay the seriousness of their own forms of suffering, and amplifying a sense of shame and stigma in yet others.

Suggested Citation

  • Bell, Kirsten, 2014. "The breast-cancer-ization of cancer survivorship: Implications for experiences of the disease," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 56-63.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:110:y:2014:i:c:p:56-63
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.03.031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614002007
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.03.031?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kaiser, Karen, 2008. "The meaning of the survivor identity for women with breast cancer," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 79-87, July.
    2. Clarke, Juanne N. & Everest, Michelle M., 2006. "Cancer in the mass print media: Fear, uncertainty and the medical model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(10), pages 2591-2600, May.
    3. Bell, Kirsten, 2009. "'If it almost kills you that means it's working!' Cultural models of chemotherapy expressed in a cancer support group," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 169-176, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dyer, Karen E., 2015. "“Surviving is not the same as living”: Cancer and Sobrevivencia in Puerto Rico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 20-29.
    2. Anne Sidenius & Lenore Manderson & Ole Mogensen & Martin Rudnicki & Lars Mikael Alling Møller & Helle Ploug Hansen, 2019. "“But this is a good cancer:” Patient perceptions of endometrial cancer in Denmark," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1-2), pages 245-256, January.
    3. Lewis, Sophie & Kenny, Katherine & Broom, Alex & Kirby, Emma & Boyle, Frances, 2021. "The social meanings of choice in living-with advanced breast cancer," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jae-Mahn Shim, 2022. "Patient Agency: Manifestations of Individual Agency Among People With Health Problems," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
    2. Pudrovska, Tetyana, 2010. "Cancer and mastery: Do age and cohort matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(7), pages 1285-1291, October.
    3. Mrig, Emily Hammad & Spencer, Karen Lutfey, 2018. "Political economy of hope as a cultural facet of biomedicalization: A qualitative examination of constraints to hospice utilization among U.S. end-stage cancer patients," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 107-113.
    4. Joseph W Taylor & Marie Long & Elizabeth Ashley & Alex Denning & Beatrice Gout & Kayleigh Hansen & Thomas Huws & Leifa Jennings & Sinead Quinn & Patrick Sarkies & Alex Wojtowicz & Philip M Newton, 2015. "When Medical News Comes from Press Releases—A Case Study of Pancreatic Cancer and Processed Meat," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-13, June.
    5. Heard, Claire Louise & Rakow, Tim, 2022. "Examining insensitivity to probability in evidence‐based communication of relative risks: the role of affect and communication format," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113810, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Quincey, Kerry & Williamson, Iain & Winstanley, Sue, 2016. "‘Marginalised malignancies’: A qualitative synthesis of men's accounts of living with breast cancer," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 17-25.
    7. Amy Rudge & Kristen Foley & Belinda Lunnay & Emma R. Miller & Samantha Batchelor & Paul R. Ward, 2021. "How Are the Links between Alcohol Consumption and Breast Cancer Portrayed in Australian Newspapers?: A Paired Thematic and Framing Media Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Smit, Anri & Coetzee, Bronwynè Jo’sean & Roomaney, Rizwana & Bradshaw, Melissa & Swartz, Leslie, 2019. "Women's stories of living with breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 231-245.
    9. Lowton, Karen & Hiley, Chris & Higgs, Paul, 2017. "Constructing embodied identity in a ‘new’ ageing population: A qualitative study of the pioneer cohort of childhood liver transplant recipients in the UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1-9.
    10. Macdonald, Sara & Conway, Elaine & Bikker, Annemieke & Browne, Susan & Robb, Kathryn & Campbell, Christine & Steele, Robert JC. & Weller, David & Macleod, Una, 2019. "Making sense of bodily sensations: Do shared cancer narratives influence symptom appraisal?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 31-39.
    11. Dyer, Karen E., 2015. "“Surviving is not the same as living”: Cancer and Sobrevivencia in Puerto Rico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 20-29.
    12. Lisa McCann & Nicola Illingworth & Yvonne Wengström & Gill Hubbard & Nora Kearney, 2010. "Transitional experiences of women with breast cancer within the first year following diagnosis," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(13‐14), pages 1969-1976, July.
    13. Granek, Leeat & Fergus, Karen, 2012. "Resistance, agency, and liminality in women's accounts of symptom appraisal and help-seeking upon discovery of a breast irregularity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(10), pages 1753-1761.
    14. Daniela Haluza & Markus Schwab & Stana Simic & Renate Cervinka & Hanns Moshammer, 2015. "Perceived Relevance of Educative Information on Public (Skin) Health: Results of a Representative, Population-Based Telephone Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-15, November.
    15. Mazanderani, Fadhila & Locock, Louise & Powell, John, 2012. "Being differently the same: The mediation of identity tensions in the sharing of illness experiences," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(4), pages 546-553.
    16. Ross, Emily & Swallow, Julia & Kerr, Anne & Chekar, Choon Key & Cunningham-Burley, Sarah, 2021. "Diagnostic layering: Patient accounts of breast cancer classification in the molecular era," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    17. Laird, Lance Daniel & de Marrais, Justine & Barnes, Linda L., 2007. "Portraying Islam and Muslims in MEDLINE: A content analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(12), pages 2425-2439, December.
    18. Hilton, Shona & Hunt, Kate & Langan, Mairi & Bedford, Helen & Petticrew, Mark, 2010. "Newsprint media representations of the introduction of the HPV vaccination programme for cervical cancer prevention in the UK (2005-2008)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 942-950, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:110:y:2014:i:c:p:56-63. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.