Breast Balls and Doughtnuts - placing them on the same platform, By Phil Kelvin
It’s Movember again. The month of the year where men are supposedly free to grow that moustache they always wanted. Most quickly acknowledge their growth is little more than pre-pubescent lip fuzz, whilst the more successful are compared to a diverse range of despotic dictators. Yet, a decade after Movember was founded with the aim of changing the face of men’s health, are we any more aware of prostate cancer, a cancer that kills one man every hour? Cancer of the testicles, ‘balls’, and of the prostate, ‘doughnuts’, are still not on the same platform in society as that of the breast. Funding expectations and the ‘macho’ male psyche are still holding us back.
Historically, funding has been clearly skewed towards breast cancer away from other cancers and we are still catching up. Even last year Cancer Research UK spent £41million on research into breast cancer yet only half of that, £19million, on prostate cancer. But is it enough to tackle the causes of the most common cancer in men? Well the investment is working and new studies and techniques have been advanced. Nevertheless, the lag is evident. Genetic markers of prostate cancer were discovered in 2013; genetic markers for breast cancer were discovered twelve years prior. Progress is good but it is both late in coming and incomplete. As Professor Mason of Cardiff University commented this month, “We still don’t understand why some prostate cancers turn out to be harmless – the grass snakes – while others are aggressive – the vipers – and resistant to treatment.”
Why is it that prostate cancer is playing catch up to breast cancer? What happened? Here are two explanations: the expectations and sensitivities of society.
Historically, funding has been clearly skewed towards breast cancer away from other cancers and we are still catching up. Even last year Cancer Research UK spent £41million on research into breast cancer yet only half of that, £19million, on prostate cancer. But is it enough to tackle the causes of the most common cancer in men? Well the investment is working and new studies and techniques have been advanced. Nevertheless, the lag is evident. Genetic markers of prostate cancer were discovered in 2013; genetic markers for breast cancer were discovered twelve years prior. Progress is good but it is both late in coming and incomplete. As Professor Mason of Cardiff University commented this month, “We still don’t understand why some prostate cancers turn out to be harmless – the grass snakes – while others are aggressive – the vipers – and resistant to treatment.”
Why is it that prostate cancer is playing catch up to breast cancer? What happened? Here are two explanations: the expectations and sensitivities of society.
Reliable tests for prostate cancer might not exist but that’s because of a historical and current funding imbalance from which we are still suffering.
Put simply, expectations have been set as the research put into breast cancer has significantly raised the chances of surviving for five years after diagnosis. The pathway is specific, the diagnosis through a variety of screening options reliable and numerous tailored options for treatment available. Women all around the world don a pink ribbon in October, yet more importantly, every woman is invited triennially between the age of 47 and 73 to attend a breast screening appointment all year round. Reliable tests for prostate cancer might not exist but that’s because of a historical and current funding imbalance from which we are still suffering. Such imbalances meant that in 2001, Britain had 3,000 specialist breast cancer nurses but only 1 for prostate cancer. The discrepancy has narrowed, the gap remains.
Not only are we are now suffering from a previous imbalance of funding but also from the sensitivities of British society – how many men want their doctor to inspect and feel their swollen prostate? This is not to say that women are comfortable bearing their breasts. Yet, the routineness of the breast screening programme has helped to prioritise health over niceties whilst campaigns have empowered women and offered collective support and counselling. A contributing factor is that, breasts despite the niceties and supposed rigidity of British culture, are everywhere. They are embedded in our literary history from Chaucer’s A Knight’s Tale to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, to the sculpture of a nude female connoisseur engraved into Northumberland’s landscape, all the way to Marks and Spencer’s 2013 Christmas advert where Rosie Huntington-Whitely is emblazoned onto our screens in mere lingerie. If one is still blind to their existence, one can always pick up a copy of The Sun from the top shelf of a newsagent and turn to page three. What breasts are not, is shocking. Yet a taboo still surrounds balls and doughnuts amongst others. In 2001, Colon Cancer Concern, in a desperate bid for attention to their cause, put out a poster of a bottom but made it look like a cleavage. A representative of the charity noted: “People are too embarrassed to talk about bottoms and rectums. But breasts are visible, attractive, and you can dress up models and market it.”
Not only are we are now suffering from a previous imbalance of funding but also from the sensitivities of British society – how many men want their doctor to inspect and feel their swollen prostate? This is not to say that women are comfortable bearing their breasts. Yet, the routineness of the breast screening programme has helped to prioritise health over niceties whilst campaigns have empowered women and offered collective support and counselling. A contributing factor is that, breasts despite the niceties and supposed rigidity of British culture, are everywhere. They are embedded in our literary history from Chaucer’s A Knight’s Tale to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, to the sculpture of a nude female connoisseur engraved into Northumberland’s landscape, all the way to Marks and Spencer’s 2013 Christmas advert where Rosie Huntington-Whitely is emblazoned onto our screens in mere lingerie. If one is still blind to their existence, one can always pick up a copy of The Sun from the top shelf of a newsagent and turn to page three. What breasts are not, is shocking. Yet a taboo still surrounds balls and doughnuts amongst others. In 2001, Colon Cancer Concern, in a desperate bid for attention to their cause, put out a poster of a bottom but made it look like a cleavage. A representative of the charity noted: “People are too embarrassed to talk about bottoms and rectums. But breasts are visible, attractive, and you can dress up models and market it.”
It is to my satisfaction if someone comments their distaste for my moustache as it gives me an opportunity to ask: “Have you checked your testicles recently?” or “Have you had difficulty passing urine?”
This is something that has to change and this is why I do Movember. It is to my satisfaction if someone comments their distaste for my moustache as it gives me an opportunity to ask: “Have you checked your testicles recently?” or “Have you had difficulty passing urine?” Balls and doughnuts need to be moved onto the same platform as breasts, not just in November, but all year round. It would serve men to emulate our female counterparts in their strong-willed, courageous and most importantly collective effort to tackle women’s health as I recently witnessed at a Race for Life event in October. The moustache goes a long way to bringing men together in a similar vein, yet more can be done to break down fundamental barriers within the male psyche without breaking down the macho man. Talk about it, read about it, and if you need to, go to the doctor.
Money donated to Movember goes a long way to rebalance scientific funding and place balls and doughnuts on the same stage as breasts. Yet a change in attitude towards men’s health needs to not only be top-down but bottom-up, age-blind, colour-blind, inter-generational and, most importantly, all year round. As Movember draws to a close, congratulate your moustache growing male companions but don’t stop asking them to look out for signs and symptoms. We need to come together to tackle men’s health, not just change the face of it. Keep the balls and doughnuts on the platform.
Money donated to Movember goes a long way to rebalance scientific funding and place balls and doughnuts on the same stage as breasts. Yet a change in attitude towards men’s health needs to not only be top-down but bottom-up, age-blind, colour-blind, inter-generational and, most importantly, all year round. As Movember draws to a close, congratulate your moustache growing male companions but don’t stop asking them to look out for signs and symptoms. We need to come together to tackle men’s health, not just change the face of it. Keep the balls and doughnuts on the platform.