Abstract
Today there is great openness about breast cancer, and the current ideology is that this is considered positive. This article draws upon sociological and philosophical theories to explore psychological practices. We ask: do women experience as much freedom to not talk about their illness as they do to talk about it? Do they experience that not being open is as favourably valued as openness is? The article is based on an ethnographic study in which women have given detailed accounts of how, to whom and in which situations they have been open or closed about their illness. It shows that breast cancer sufferers do not always experience a real choice between withholding and sharing information. As such, openness cannot be considered as the best practice for all breast cancer sufferers.
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Notes
Examples of cover photos of women who have had breast cancer: The New York Times Magazine, 15 August 1993, cover photo of a former model who has undergone mastectomy; Dagbladet Magasinet, 12 October 2002: cover photo of a Norwegian actress; Verdens Gang, 1 October 2005, cover photo of 10 women who have had breast cancer surgery.
http://www.tv2.no/gmn/nakne-bestemoedre-paa-oslobussene-2244488.html, accessed 1 December 2009. The webpage talks about one of Pink Ribbon’s cancer awareness campaigns in Norway: 50 Oslo city buses sported large ‘advertisement’ pictures of breast cancer survivors. One such photo also hung from an office building in Tønsberg.
www.pinkribbon.com, accessed 30 June 2009. A folded pink ribbon is the official symbol of Pink Ribbon, an international organization promoting breast cancer awareness, research and prevention. The organization was launched in the United States in 1991 and in Norway in 1999.
The article in question stems from the same study as the present article.
www.kreftforeningen.no, accessed 30 June 2009. Practicing openness is part of the vision of the Norwegian Cancer Association.
The study was conducted in Norway with women from nine different counties from south to north. The 28 women were selected by means of snowball sampling with the use of various initial contact persons, from local chapters of the Norwegian Cancer Association and through the Montebello Centre, a training facility for cancer patients and their dependents. The selection procedure resulted in a varied combination of interviewees with respect to age, occupation, marital status and place of residence.
The women are all rendered anonymous with respect to names and other recognizable conditions. The project has been approved by the Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD) and by the Regional Ethical Committee (REK).
In the analytic framework we have focused on the practices of five women. Although the importance of gender is present, we have not explored this in detail. The signification of gender is more in focus in two other articles in this present study (Johansen et al, 2009; Johansen et al, 2013).
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We are thankful to the women who took part in this study.
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Frederike Johansen, V., Marie Andrews, T., Haukanes, H. et al. Freedom and pressure in self-disclosure. Soc Theory Health 12, 105–123 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2013.23
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2013.23