297,000 of American women are predicted to develop breast cancer in 2023. Graphic courtesy of Senior Asia Jade Hagans.
One out of eight women are affected by breast cancer each year in the US. Many San Luis Obispo High School students know of or have known someone affected by ductal or lobular carcinoma.
“It’s definitely not great, [breast cancer] impacts a lot of people. A lot of girls on our volleyball team know people impacted by it and they all deserve support,” said senior volleyball member Nina Moutafov.
In San Luis Obispo County, 146 women report having breast cancer yearly; per 100,000 Californian women, SLO County comes in second for annual breast cancer incidents.
“In today’s society, [breast cancer] should be talked about much more than it is. It’s for women, [and] it should be talked about because of how serious it is,” said junior Women’s Equality Club leader Adela Espinoza.
So, to bring awareness to the many struggles women face with cancer and their body images, National No Bra Day was created.
“Body positivity means loving yourself, and questioning or rejecting the standards that women have been taught and making your own rules for loving yourself and loving the body that you have. We often forget how lucky we are that our bodies are strong and healthy. We fixate on the shapes that we come in and their proportions instead,” said Fashion and Interior Design teacher Leon Avery.
National No Bra Day was first created on July 9, 2011 by an internet user named ‘Anastasia Doughnuts” and later was founded again in Canada by Dr. Mitchell Brown on October 19 of the same year. In 2014, the two ideas were combined and National Bra Day was moved to October 13.
Breast cancer not only affects women, but men too. The difference in cases between genders, however, is drastic. In 2023, an estimated amount of 2,800 men will be diagnosed, and 530 of them will succumb to the disease; out of 297,790 women, 43,170 will not survive. Breast cancer is very rare amongst men with only a 1 out of 833 chance of developing it.
“All forms of cancer should be talked about more often, my husband has survived two rounds of cancer treatment. We are so grateful for the new types of treatment that is being created in America,” said Avery
SLOHS has done a lot of fundraisers in the past to help cancer organizations. Recently on October 5, the girls volleyball team had a ‘gold out’ where everyone wore yellow to show support in the fight against breast cancer.
“[Woman’s Equality Club] could definitly organize something where we do no bra if [members] are comfortable,” said Espinoza, “we plan to promote other fundraisers and put a lot of support [out].”
Some will choose to participate, and others will not! It’s all about comfortability and being comfortable in your own skin.
“Men are able to not wear shirts; a woman should be able to not wear a bra comfortably,” said Moutafov.
National No Bra Day is all about reflection and awareness; if you are unable to participate or aren’t comfortable, that’s fine Tigers, wear pink or a pink ribbon!
Source:bcrf.org, ksby.com
