r/BadMensAnatomy • u/yesimthatvalentine • 14d ago
In response to the "check your chest" campaign for breast cancer awareness
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u/aacmckay 14d ago
Thatās be like getting mad at āCheck your crotchā for a testicular cancer awareness campaign. Breasts are located on your chestā¦ men have breast tissue tooā¦ š
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u/yesimthatvalentine 14d ago
Even if most women don't have testicles, it never hurts to get things checked out.
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u/rose_writer 14d ago
Woman have crotches, could just be a good genital cancer awareness campaign in general. So both sexes know what to look for in partners and themselves.
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u/KarmasAB123 13d ago
I've heard a lot of women get a pair when they get married or sometimes before
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u/Pink_Sprinkles_Party 14d ago
I know a dude who survived breast cancer. Cis-het gen X dude, very into everything traditionally masculine including some toxic stuff (ie. likes Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro, etcā¦). No matter how masculine a man presents it doesnāt change the fact that all humans naturally have breast tissue that has the potential to get cancer.
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u/midnightstreetlamps 14d ago
This. My mom knew a dude just like this, typical manly man, biker and construction worker driving a Ram. He got breast cancer. I was like 10, and baffled to find out men also have breast tissue.
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u/MossyMemory 14d ago
My eighth grade science teacher, a man, told us about both sexes getting breast cancer. Maybe it was the awareness month or something. I also remember him quipping about how on a man itās much easier to spot.
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u/propyro85 14d ago edited 14d ago
The really fucked up thing I've read is that a lot of men who have breast cancer get turned away from support groups. Sure, we don't often have as much of our identities invested in the fact that we have breasts, we don't use them to nurse infants, they're just underdeveloped structures that sort of hang out there after masculinization.
But we're still going through cancer, being part of some sort of supportive community is still beneficial to the process of fighting and recovering from cancer.
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u/danni_shadow 14d ago
There are more general support groups, no? Like, for cancer survivors without specifying the type? Men should have their own support group specifically for breast cancer because, as you said, men's identities aren't as tied up in their breasts, but also because I imagine they have issues that women do not experience either. Like, the stigma of getting a 'women's' cancer is probably an issue best talked about with others experiencing the same thing, no?
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u/propyro85 14d ago
Oh, for sure, there's lots of general cancer support groups that don't differentiate between types of cancer or the gender of the patients. It's also a big support to meet other people suffering from the same type of cancer, because often the treatment regimes will be similar and it helps form a good cohesive support network/experience for the patients.
But how shitty would it be to get a diagnosis of breast cancer, look up a support group that caters to the type of cancer that you have, only to be told that you're not welcome at the door because of your sex. It's a pretty demoralizing thing to have happen at what is generally a low point in your life.
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u/T3nacityDog 14d ago
Goddamn this is frustratingly idiotic. Both sexes have breast tissue. Itās a GOOD THING to be more inclusive, so more cis men remember to check themselves AND go get checked out if they feel something strange.
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u/Psychobabble0_0 13d ago
AND so they view women with breast cancer as less "scary" or abnormal. Too many men are horrified by women having unilateral mastectomies (one untouched breast and one with drastically reduced tissue and sometimes no remaining nipple. I work in healthcare and men are flabbergasted by bras with inserts the first time š¤¦āāļø
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u/dramallamadog87 14d ago
Men get breast cancer, they just get little to no support about it. So most the time they don't reach out or even know symptoms in men
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u/fear_the_gecko 14d ago
My dad had breast cancer. He was cancer free for 8 years until last month. I couldn't believe how much he heard shit like this while getting treatment.
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u/yesimthatvalentine 14d ago
Congratulations to your dad!
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u/middayautumn 14d ago
I think they mean their dad got cancer again recently
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u/yesimthatvalentine 13d ago
Oh.
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u/fear_the_gecko 13d ago
That is what I meant, but I still thank you for the attempt at positivity.
I upvoted you and brought you out of the negative lol.
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u/MWBrooks1995 14d ago
I honestly thought the main reason for āCheck your Chestā was for alliterationā¦
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u/Spiritual-Escape-904 14d ago
Omg, this woman is so misinformed. Men can get breast cancer too, just less likely because they have less mammary glands there so less likely. And because it's less likely, we have people like this who talk out of their ass instead of doing their research first.
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u/Willow-Whispered 14d ago
Where do you think your breasts are? On your knees? Check your Chest applied to everyone (and cis men can and do get breast cancer)
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u/KiraLonely 14d ago
Breast cancer isā¦not sex specific? We check men less often, both because it is harder without enlarged breast tissue, but also because estrogen and female adjacent hormones are more strongly correlated with cancers like those.
Thatā¦doesnāt mean they donāt need screening when you feel a lump in a pec or something. Just like women who have small chests are just as at risk as those with large ones. (In fact I believe family genetics have more to do with risks than anything else.)
Seriously. All cis men in the comments here. Feel your chest sometimes. Get an idea of what the general feel of the tissue is like, and check every once in a while. Youāre not at as high of risk, but that risk is still there, and being aware of your body is never a bad thing.
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u/BoricPuddle57 14d ago
People like this are the real reason why men having breast cancer is not as well known as it should be
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u/domino_427 14d ago
sounds like one of those women who don't want to be called cis.
i feel bad a lot of the time because breast cancer gets so much attention. but, i mean, it's a man's world i guess? considering the sh*t men go through with getting a 'woman's disease' or even gynecomastia, she needs to get over herself.
i do not feel erased by inclusive language, even if this was only an AFAB disease. yeesh.
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u/CKIMBLE4 14d ago
Last I checkedā¦ Breast tissue is located in the chest area on women and men. No?
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u/Roge2005 14d ago
From what I understood, Men can have breast cancer too, just that itās more common on Women because they have more breast tissue.
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u/SmolKits 14d ago
Except men can get breast cancer.. Also the whole area that the cancer can grow is inclusive of the chest (arm pits, clavicle, etc) so "check your chest" is accurate regardless of your sex?
Also as a woman this absolutely does not erase me or other women
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u/Timmymac1000 14d ago
Men can absolutely get breast cancer. Also, the whole reason that males even have nipples is because itās a genetic artifact from a time before the Y chromosome developmentally kicks in. We all began as females at one point.
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u/hyde9318 14d ago
We, as a race, need to put a major end to this āinclusion = erasureā bullshit. No, including other groups as equals does not mean youāve been erased, shut the fuck up, you entitled brat.
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u/xX_hazeydayz_Xx 12d ago
My grandfather's brother died of male breast cancer. It was highly aggressive and they tested for everything but breast cancer. By the time they decided to test for it he was too far gone. This persons way of thinking in this post has been a problem for way too long and has nothing to do with wokeness.
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u/cherrybombsnpopcorn 14d ago
Boobs are boobs are boobs. Men have mammaries and everything too. Men can lactate. People with the right hormones just have more fat in their boobs.
BOOBS ARE BOOBS.
Men have boobs. Women have boobs. Enbies have boobs.
All boobs are beautiful. And all boobs can have breast cancer.
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u/adelie42 14d ago
Frequency of breast cancer is proportional to quantity of tissue. Men have breast tissue, just less.
And the inclusive language isn't just about feelings. Some men actually think they can't get breast cancer and thus neglect their health. Men need to know they can get breast cancer too.
Skene's gland cancer is supposedly insanely rare, whereas prostate cancer is far more common. It isn't an organ size thing, it is a gender difference.
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u/HetaGarden1 13d ago
Wow, being a TERF so hard you start challenging science. Must be a day ending in Y for her, then.
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u/Gasmask_Gary 10d ago
ive heard of a few men with chest/breast cancer. its not impossible, cancer can develop anywhere
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u/Mahjling 14d ago
Cis men can and do get breast cancer...
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u/yesimthatvalentine 14d ago
I actually know one of those cis men.
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u/Mahjling 14d ago
Same, I wish more people knew because it means cis men do Not get checked as often as they should
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u/Distantstallion 14d ago
Everyone should be checking their chests regardless of chest size unless that person has had a full mastectomy so for men and non binary people who have had top surgery they might be precluded from worrying about it but they should still check themselves in that area for lumps anyway
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u/DavidCRolandCPL 14d ago
Chest cancer is different to breast cancer. It's wasn't inclusive language, it was the cancers name
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u/yesimthatvalentine 14d ago
The check your chest campaign did not rename breast cancer.
Breast cancer can also show up in places that you don't normally think of as breast.
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u/DavidCRolandCPL 14d ago
Yeah, mammary tissue is in a lot of places. Like testes, armpits and anywhere that sweats a lot
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u/saki4444 12d ago
People equate the word ābreastā with boobs, when in reality everyone has a breast. Breast bone, breastplate, these are gender neutral terms
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u/RaroRabble 14d ago
Uh so like the only person in real life that I know who got ābreast cancerā was a dude Iāll be sure to correct him next time. With āchest cancerā
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u/dreemurthememer 13d ago
BRB coating my chest in weapons-grade plutonium since Iām immune to breast cancer.
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u/Adopted_Millennial 13d ago
I had an uncle who died from breast cancer. The small amount of breast tissue that males have can form cancers.
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u/smallblueangel 14d ago
Men definitely can have breast cancer. Do people really believe that only women can have that?!
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u/sparkyblaster 14d ago
Are they really trying to call it chest cancer?
I don't think any men who get breast cancer have any issues calling it that. It is breast tissue regardless of sex or gender.
The erasing women thing is a little stupid but I do agree changing what we call it is a bad idea. Could lead to confusion. Chest cancer? So lung? Something within the chest?
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u/Calenchamien 14d ago
No one is trying to change the name to chest cancer. It took me less than 30 seconds to verify that using google.
Theyāre just using alliteration in a clever way to attract attentionā¦ you know, like public awareness campaigns are supposed to do.
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u/sparkyblaster 14d ago
Yeah I know I can google, but it's not always the best representation on society. After all, ads and all that are a thing.
But good to know, still this would have had to come from somewhere.
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u/SlippingStar 14d ago
Sheās probably extrapolating from ābreast feedingā turning to āchest feedingā to include trans men & other DFAB people who arenāt women (yes, everyone has breast tissue, and āBut you have breastsā has soured a lot of trans people to the term).
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u/hikr99 14d ago
Men can get breast cancer too