Last month was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month- a fact that most people are aware of. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide- a fact that most people aren’t aware of. According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, it’s the leading cause of death is the world’s poorest countries and the second leading cause of cancer death in American women.
The American Cancer Society predicts that about 40,450 women will die from breast cancer in 2016 and 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed. The chance that a woman will die from breast cancer is one in 36, that’s a 3 percent chance.
Even though this is a huge issue that plagues the women of the United States, The New School scheduled no events in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But the university does talk with female students about breast health during their preventative care visits, according to public relations manager Will Wilbur.
“When appropriate, we send students for both routine and diagnostic mammograms and sonograms. We also have a very robust resource list of well-respected breast cancer surgeons in the area to whom we refer,” Wilbur says.
However limited the school’s coverage or attention to breast cancer is, there are some people within the school that are more connected to this subject.
Most college students probably feel this is more of a problem for women their mother or grandmother’s age, but they are sadly mistaken. What most college students aren’t aware of is the threat breast cancer causes to themselves and their peers. 11 percent of all new cases of breast cancer in the United States occur in women younger than 45, according to the Center for Disease Control.
“My entire life I thought I would get cancer since I saw my mom go through breast cancer when I was 5. o, when I was 19 I decided to get tested to know for sure. I went to my mom’s breast surgeon and spoke to a genetic counselor who prepared the genetic test for me. I just had to spit in a little tube and two weeks later I got the call,” said Danielle Pearce, a senior photography student at Parsons who has tested positive for the BRCA1 gene and bravely chosen to conduct her senior thesis project on her gene mutation.
Even though breast cancer in young women accounts for only a small percentage of total breast cancer cases, the impact of this disease is serious, this year more than 13,000 young women will be diagnosed. There are many factors that lead to younger women being at a higher risk of contracting breast cancer or being diagnosed. One of these risk factors is having the breast cancer gene, BRCA1 or BRCA2.
The National Cancer Institute said that 55 to 65 percent of women who inherit the harmful BRCA1 gene will develop breast cancer by the time they are 70.
“It is [the breast cancer gene] a part of my life that really matters to me. I feel that a lot of women don’t know about the gene and I would like to raise awareness and help provide support for other young women facing the same things as me,” Pearce said.
She believes that finding out that she carries the gene wasn’t a huge surprise and hasn’t changed the course of her life all that much, besides being more aware of her exercise routines and the things she puts into her body. But as far as being a college student, Pearce is just like anyone else.
Since the realization of having this gene, Pearce said that she’s been able to find a community in which she can get questions answered and have other people understand just exactly what it is that she’s going through. However, she has only been able to connect with a handful of women around her age with this gene, she attributes this to the fact that most women don’t even start to get tested until age 25.
“By taking the steps to prevent cancer, I’ve in some ways inspired my mom to go through with her preventative hysterectomy and double mastectomy” said Pearce. “We are facing this terrible gene head on and working to prevent cancer from ever affecting our family again…I plan on getting one [a double mastectomy] around age 30 in order to reduce my cancer risk by over 60 percent.”
Pearce’s mother and grandmother both have gone through breast cancer not once but twice.
Although conversations about social justice are frequent around The New School, the topic of breast cancer seems to scarcely come up unless it’s on the students own fruition.
Emily Frank, a Parsons third semester AAS graphic design student, was given an assignment to pick words from a list and then use any material to convey the meaning of the words. Wanting to create something that was both relevant to herself and surrounding this presidential election, Frank chose the word “boob.” She then created a spunky piece of experimental typography reflecting breast cancer awareness month that ended up being shared on Parsons’ own Instagram.
“I wanted the image to be about female empowerment, freedom, and breast cancer awareness, but also to have a sense of humor. If there’s anything I’ve learned about dealing with cancer, it’s that it’s so important to keep a sense of humor; it’s definitely one of the keys to resilience.” Frank says.
Although Frank has never been touched by breast cancer herself, she said that “Cancer has affected my loved ones in various ways, and witnessing how people deal with cancer, both as patients and as family members and friends, has affected me tremendously.”
After showing popularity amongst classmates and on Instagram, Frank showed her image to one of the designers at Sagmeister & Walsh, the design firm where she works as a production assistant. After seeing her piece the designer was inspired to make her own image in its likeness for ‘No Bra Day’, a day which is meant to raise awareness for the importance of breast cancer screening.
Grace Jun, both a processor and MFA graduate of The New School, is interested in ideas of design and how they relate in the world of social justice, particularly designing for people with disabilities. In both her current work and her MFA thesis, Jun focuses on designing for women with breast cancer. She set out to create a series of blazers that would actually help these women comfortably acclimate back into the rituals of normal life, such as re-entering the workplace, after treatment or surgery.
The pieces give women comfort and resolve some of the issues they face when wearing other pieces of clothing after surgery, but don’t set them apart from other women who don’t have these issues, according to Jun. By using the natural elements of certain, mainstream fabrics, these blazers can be worn by anyone, but with the added, almost secret bonus of having special properties for women with breast cancer.
These women of The New School are taking action through their art and practice to create not only breast cancer awareness but a better life for those who struggle with this disease.
Breast cancer is not a distant, faceless disease. Do yourself and the people you love a favor, get tested, be aware of symptoms and risk factors. Right now, there are 2.8 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States.
Julia is the current Senior Photo Editor for the Free Press. She is in her senior year at Parsons, majoring in Photography and minoring in Art History. Julia is originally from Boston and is patiently awaiting her return there after college. She is a wiener dog and pizza enthusiast and finds herself most at home when she is near the ocean.
