Angelina Jolie recently announced her choice to have her ovaries removed to prevent cancer, sending the Internet and female community into a whirl.
Jolie is very much considered a sex symbol in today’s society, so her choice to remove her ovaries has a very positive effect on women. Dubbed “The Angelina Jolie Effect,” her decision has encouraged other women to have the surgery to help prevent ovarian cancer.
A large obstacle for many women to not opt for such a surgery is that they do not want to lose their identity as a woman. They feel as if removing certain parts of their body will effect their womanhood.
Jolie has proven such a position false.
She recently did an op-ed piece for the New York Times, writing, “I feel feminine, and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family. I know my children will never have to say, ‘Mom died of ovarian cancer.’”
Research has shown that more and more women have been getting genetically tested to see if they are at risk for cancer. Many of them cite Jolie as the reason.
In the U.S., ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death for women.
Jolie has said a good portion of her decision to have the surgery has come from losing her grandmother, aunt and mother to cancer. When she received a blood test, she found that she carried the BRCA1 gene, a genetic mutation. This put her at 87 percent risk for breast cancer and a 50 percent risk for ovarian cancer.
The Internet made Jolie one of the trending topics on Twitter, making her decision and usually private medical procedure a more open topic. Many women have become more open to talking about it and taking preventive measures. In sharing her decision, Jolie has inspired women in a positive way.
With more people coming out about these types of health and medical issues, via social media, testing and similar treatments could become a trend and more common practice.
With the Jolie and others’ actions, it is easy to imagine that there will be more public conversation about ovarian and breast cancer and what preventive steps can be taken to help save more lives. Her strength and attitude will certainly be an inspiration for all women.
“I will not be able to have any more children, and I expect some physical changes; but I feel at ease with whatever will come, not because I am strong, but because this is a part of life. It is nothing to be feared.”

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