Angelina Jolie’s Preventative Mastectomy Is Not Your Business

A few days ago, Angelina Jolie revealed that she had undergone a double mastectomy after finding out she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer due to a faulty BRCA1 gene. She was being honest about it but things got worse on social media. Angelina’s mother died of breast cancer at the awfully young age of 56, so the actress fully understands what it’s like to have someone you love taken away from you. She went through this painful and arduous process of having her breasts removed so she wouldn’t have to go through radiation and chemo. She went through this for her kids. Her husband. Herself  It was later revealed that she will also have her ovaries removed in another procedure.

Per usual, there’s a special segment of the world that feels like it’s appropriate to express their sexist and misogynistic feelings via the Internet. Assholes of the world are whooping and howling in the name of Angelina’s breasts, and it’s a shame, because this shows how some people only value women based on their bodies. To reduce Angelina Jolie to just her breasts is sickening, because it means our society will forever prioritize body image over the important things: family, sacrifice, bravery and character. Why should a woman be identified by a body part?

Men aren’t the only ones out there who are ridiculing Angelina; there are women who are now insinuating that they can now take Angelina’s place because they have breasts and she doesn’t. Please, girlfriends. Don’t even.

Not only is breast cancer a serious, life-threatening disease, it is completely life-altering. So many women feel as though their femininity, sex appeal and beauty is being ripped away from them; it’s psychologically damaging and heart-wrenching. So when Angelina had her breasts preventatively removed because she feared she would develop cancer, she made a choice. A brave one. She parted with her breasts for her children, husband and life. Her actions should be celebrated, not mocked. She shared her story to inspire women, to promote awareness of a deadly and common disease, not to encourage derogatory, immature and disgusting backlash.

It’s not funny to joke around about Brad now having to “f**k his kids’ nanny.” It’s not funny to tweet: “In other news, Angelina Jolie killed her breasts and the boners of millions of men today,” because it wasn’t her JOB to give men boners; she doesn’t owe anyone her breasts. It’s not funny to “feel sorry” for “poor” Brad. Brad is a lucky man. He’s lucky to be with a woman so courageous and beautiful inside and out.