Angelina Jolie creates health awareness


In a New York Times op-ed published on March 24, Angelina Jolie discussed her decision to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes preemptively to reduce her risk of ovarian cancer. On her decision to undergo surgery for cancer prevention, Jolie said, “I feel feminine and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family. I know my children will never have to say, ‘Mom died of ovarian cancer.’”

Just over two years ago, Jolie announced that she had a double mastectomy to decrease her chances of getting breast cancer. After genetic testing, she discovered that she had a mutated BRCA1 gene, which significantly increases the risk of breast and ovarian cancer and prompted her to make an informed and progressive decision. Jolie lost her mother, aunt and grandmother to cancer, and considering her family history and genetic background, her decision is a way of taking back her life and living it on her own terms — an inspiration in the realm of public health.

Jolie’s film career is a narrative of exceptionally strong female roles, and her persona off-screen follows suit. As a working mother of six, a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency and a champion for ending sexual violence in war zones, Jolie has made a conscious effort to provide women with visibility. Sharing her story is simply in her nature of empowering women and informing them about health. In publishing what she describes as the “diary of a surgery,” her celebrity not only humanizes the impending threat of cancer but also responds to the public’s desensitized attitude to the female struggle in her individualized fight against the disease.

Jolie’s removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes tells women of all ages that strength is not a matter of physicality. She conveys that a woman is not defined by her sexual organs or lack thereof. Femininity and female sexuality are no longer limited to the confines of a woman’s biology; instead, Jolie is the epitome of what it means to be knowledgeable, thoughtful and tenacious.

Yet there are significant setbacks in the removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes, which her article ensures do not go unnoticed. Jolie will not be able to have any more children, and her hormone replacements caused her to go through menopause at age 39. Despite the mental and emotional side effects of early menopause, she said, “I feel at ease with whatever will come, not because I am strong but because this is a part of life. It is nothing to be feared.”

For women at risk of ovarian and breast cancer, Jolie’s article provides a sense of normalcy to the subject matter. By bringing cancer to a surface level discussion, the subsequent “Angelina Jolie effect” encourages women to take control of their health and reclaim ownership of their bodies.

Jolie stresses that an operation of this caliber, though preventive and effective, is a personal choice. It is important to note that results are contingent upon one’s family history, genetics and physical makeup. Evidently, Jolie’s use of her female agency has given a voice to speak against “the silent killer” that is ovarian cancer. In light of her efforts, the future of medicine will no longer make the word “female” associative with the term “cancer victim.” Jolie’s article starts a very important  conversation: a woman has choices. With or without surgery, she is not a bystander in her health struggle, but a heroine for her own future.