Why Angelina Jolie’s Breast Cancer Risk Shouldn’t Be Big News

The cover story in this week’s issue of People talks about Angelina Jolie’s “Brave Choice.” 

The magazine might have been talking about her prophylactic mastectomy, but her decision to go public with her decision was just as brave…..and unbelievably important for women worldwide. In fact, one woman wrote to me on a message board that while she doesn’t necessarily like Angelina Jolie, she thanks her because she had never even heard of the BRCA mutations until last week. I know she’s not alone.

However, while I’ve been overwhelmed by the media attention breast cancer risk (BRCA and otherwise) and previvors have gotten in the past two weeks, it makes me sad that it took a celebrity’s announcement to bring these issues into the spotlight. Of course, I understand that’s the way our world works, but these issues are far too important for women to know about. Angelina’s announcement will save lives, but I think about all the women who didn’t know about their breast cancer risk until it was too late.

Certainly, organizations like Bright Pink and FORCE have done so much to educate people about previvors and the many options they have to protect themselves. But never before has this subject graced the cover of Time, People, and countless other publications in the same week. It has never been the lead story on so many news programs at once. It unfortunately took star power for that to happen.

I know the news cycle is a brief one. And Angelina’s news won’t be so big soon enough. But we REALLY need to continue this dialogue, regardless of which actress, model, politician, or athlete happens to be facing her risk. The vast majority of previvors—many of whom I call my friends— are not famous. But they are equally as brave and they, too, have stories to tell. We all need to listen.

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