The GLBTRT has been reviewing books and movies in its newsletter since the early 1990s. Trace the evolution of queer publishing through these historic reviews. This review was originally published in Vol. 4, No. 2, Summer 1992.
This is an anthology of writings by lesbians and heterosexual women who have experienced breast and/or reproductive tract cancer. The title is misleading because few of the short stories, essays or journal excerpts discuss any cancer except those that can be diagnosed in women. The contributors explore a wide variety of mechanism used, including education, activism, increased reliance on friends, and support groups, to cope with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
By far the best contribution was by Laura Post, a psychotherapist, whose journal excerpt about a patient dying of metastic cancer was beautifully written. The author’s commitment to medicine and her patient ring true.
Most of the contributors who go in depth about the medical aspects of their disease are hazy abut pathology diagnoses; this book should certainly not be considered a reliable source of medical information. It contains, as the editor notes, the voices and perceptions of women with cancer who responded to requests for contributions from feminist publications.
The writers cover topics ranging from the purely personal fears of death to the level of funding allocated for treatment of cancers which afflict women exclusively, in contrast to AIDS funding; whether the victim – or survivor – of cancer has been given a gift or a curse; whether the individual bears any responsibility, due to her lifestyle, for contracting cancer, or whether the responsibility lies entirely with the U.S. government’s lack of concern for environmental toxins and other carcinogens.
There are a number of spelling or typographical errors. There is no appendix to explain medical terminology, though some chapters contain bibliographic citations, and a few medical terms are defined in the text or footnotes. The contributors to the book are listed in alphabetical order by their first name. There is a brief index, and a list of alternative women’s cancer resource groups and “selected recommended publications” ranging from Audre Lorde’s The Cancer Journals to Susan Sontag’s AIDS and Its Metaphors.
This book should be of interest in collections of lesbian/feminist health care issues, or where interest warrants; I do not feel it is an essential purchase for a general collection.
Reviewed by Martha E. Stone
Treadwell Library
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston,MA
