'The Angelina Effect': Why More Women Want to be like Brad Pitt’s Angie?
Why Every Woman Wants to Be Angelina Jolie
When news of the death of Angelina Jolie’s aunt who succumbed to breast cancer greeted the world on Monday, the move of Brad Pitt’s partner to undergo double mastectomy has even been reinforced and proven right, silencing critics who deemed it wasn’t right to enjoin women to show the same courage. Angelina has continued to become the epitome of what every woman wants.
From her slim, bikini hot body to her sultry, extraordinarily gifted lips which she has had become known for in the beginning, to her humanitarian works, Brad Pitt's Angie has become what every of her species has ever wanted. Everything Angie does matters to every woman. Her courageous surgery for double mastectomy is the latest of Angie’s slew of influences.
When Angie decided to name her second biological daughter, twin Marcheline, the name after her mother has become the number one on the list of baby names. Her decision to adopt a child from Ethiopia resulted in twice the number of Ethiopian adoption inquiries the following year. Her works in the United Nations have prompted other celebrities to follow suit and now, having a cause is an added sale to any celebrity.
And the list continues.
Angelina Jolie has created a “medical earthquake” when she shared her story in an op-ed published on New York Times on May 14, 2013. In the article, the actress provided details of her experiences on the medical procedure that required surgery when she decided for an elective double mastectomy, underscoring that she wanted women “to inspire women having informed choices.”
She explained that “[she] decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much [she] could,” upon learning that she had 87% of breast cancer and 56% of ovarian cancer when she was tested carrying “faulty” BRCA1 gene and the procedure would help her reduce her breast-cancer risk. Angie’s mother, Marcheline, died of breast cancer at the age of 56.
“I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options,” Angelina said in the NYT article.
Her bravery has earned both the ire and admiration of many, and it certainly had some effect on women around the world.
“Jolie’s decision to have a preventive or prophylactic mastectomy should raise awareness in women with strong family histories of breast and ovarian cancer to seek genetic counseling to determine if they carry the BRCA gene. While preventive mastectomy is not the only option, her decision demonstrates her courage in being proactive in preventing breast cancer,” Dr. Kathie-Ann Joseph, an assistant professor of Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center said in an interview with Wall Street Journal.
The Director of the Breast Cancer Program at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center congratulated Jolie for her decision to undergo the procedure.
Dr. Lyndsay Harris said, “It raises awareness of the fact that there are certain genetic abnormalities which have a very high risk of developing breast cancer.”
“I have some patients who have done the test on their own, found out they were carrying the mutation but have not been brave enough to follow through with the surgery. Angelina's revelation has certainly helped these women to think about moving forward," Dr Zayd al Mazami, Surgeon and Breast Cancer Consultant at Dubai Hospital.
Two weeks after Angelina shared her story, more and more women have been keen on the procedure and indeed awareness on double mastectomy and breast cancer has reached another level.
Her story has become so captivating that it had earned Angie a cover page on May 27, 2013 issue of Time Magazine titled “Angelina Effect.”
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