Each year, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an opportunity to draw attention to breast cancer, a form of cancer that affects nearly 60,000 women in France per year. It stands as a valuable initiative that raises awareness about the disease among thousands of people and helps to advance the fight against this cancer.
At MÊME, since our very beginning, we’ve wanted to take advantage of the visibility given to breast cancer in October so we can communicate other equally important messages about the disease, because this cancer doesn’t only affect the breast and doesn’t stop on 31 October. That’s why we want to talk about all forms of cancer and the 365 days a year that we fight against them.
This year, more than ever, we wanted to provide a space to address all forms of the disease that are still taboo. Along with the healthcare professionals whom we work with and whom you have met with, we wanted to create an area for open and honest dialogue where everyone, regardless of the taboos constraining them, can choose to speak and thus take the first step to feeling more liberated in talking about cancer.
Behind the taboos lie hidden many missed opportunities.
There are still too many women suffering in silence from dryness in their intimate areas even while there are solutions that can soothe their daily lives.
There are still too many patients constrained by their fears and who still have not found the right therapist, the right person to support them and learn to accept the situation.
There is still too much hardship endured in the private and family spheres, even after treatment, due to the overmodest veil that is drawn over these subjects, making them invisible to the eyes of others, thus leaving patients to believe that they must go through this pain and discomfort on their own.
And still, the disease too often goes hand in hand with exclusion and isolation, whether it be geographic, social or financial, leaving thousands of patients distraught by this change to their bodies and lives, which seems increasingly insurmountable.
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Because the burden of silence should never be added to the burden of the disease, together we need to break the taboos surrounding cancer.
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is like a bomb going off. It explodes in a precise point and destabilises everyone around it, upending the careful balance that usually structures our lives. And in a moment where everything seems to have toppled over, where the control of our own daily lives slips through our fingers, where our private, family and social spheres are severely tested, a time where we are preparing for the biggest fight of our life, there comes an additional burden, both invisible and terrible in its silence: that of taboo.
CBecause the disease is not only the fight of the afflicted against their own illness, but also the pressure felt from the regard of others, the affront of one’s own appearance in the mirror, the pain of seeing fear in the eyes of those who love us. It’s also involves the difficulty of trying to be understood, of having to stop when the world around us keeps moving and of having at times to stay silent so as not to cause embarrassment or discomfort or force those who prefer to ignore the illness to look it in the face.
Because the burden of silence should never be added to the burden of the illness, we should always have the choice to talk about it or to keep to ourselves.
Together let’s break through the taboos surrounding cancer.
#SansTabou, join in the dialogue
Because talking about it is the first step to move forward in fighting it, we’ve launched the #SansTabou campaign. .
Do you want to speak up to tell your story and thus free yourself from your taboos and be able to help other patients? Join in the conversation!
- Send us an email at [email protected]
- EWriter us a letter at
MÊME - Sans tabou
12 rue d’Enghien, 75010 Paris
- Write to us or leave us a vocal message on Instagram @memecosmetics
- Or simply use #SansTabou on social media.
Spread the word!
Cancer and taboos: four major subjects illuminated
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Cancer and Intimacy: “My intimate private life”When the body becomes something to be healed, scrutinised and analysed by doctors, when the side effects ravage it, what remains of one’s private life? When our relationship with our body changes, when it is the centre of our sickness, making us condemn it as much as we are compelled to trust in it, what remains of our sense of intimacy? By freeing ourselves from taboos, striving to talk about our sexuality, we can rediscover the secret pleasures of our intimate life. |
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Cancer and fear: “Is this my last Christmas?”Feeling afraid is a part of life. But fear takes on a different dimension when we are diagnosed with cancer. It lives in us every day, sometimes twisting up our insides when we are not expecting it. We can see it in the eyes of our friends and family and at times in the eyes of other people. And while fear is natural, sometimes even beneficial, we can’t let it govern our lives. Instead, let us learn to understand it and tame it so it comes along with us on all of our paths in life without shackling us.
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Cancer and femininity: “I don’t recognise myself anymore”The loss of traditional symbols of femininity, the preservation of one’s fertility, our bodies that change with the pace of our lives… women are still subject to injunctions and societal pressure when they are sick. And if we reassess the hundreds of realities hidden behind the term femininity and if we learn to rediscover it, can all of us finally reclaim and accept it? Let’s allow women in all their nuances and individuality to define their own femininity rather than allowing “femininity” to stand in the way of women. |
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Cancer and isolation: “My double punishment”Are all odds stacked in my favour? How am I going to be able to go on? Why do I feel abandoned? When we feel isolated, these questions are like so much fog that invades our thoughts and saps our energy, which stops us in our tracks in a world that is quickly moving ahead around us. Let’s allow ourselves to ask for help and let’s seek out the things that will energise us so we can find our place again and let a bit of light in even while ill.
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The origins of Breast Cancer Awareness Month: prevention and raising awareness for breast cancer
Because the real message of Breast Cancer Awareness Month – a massive awareness-raising and prevention campaign against breast cancer – is what counts the most, we want to remind you about the best actions to apply and share.
