Some people wearing cancer like a badge, claims Saunders

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Jennifer Saunders has hit out at cancer survivors who wear the disease as a badge. A quote from the article in the Irish Times says, "

Asked if she believed some people keep wearing cancer like a badge, she responded: “For ever — and iI’ give you why. “Because it is the job you don’t have to work for. “You suddenly get so much attention, and if you’re not used to that, I bet it can sway you a little bit.

“I’m used to it. My job gives me the attention I would otherwise crave. They must be so pissed off when their hair grows back. And you think, ‘Oh, come on, cancer is so common now’.”

 

irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/some-people-wearing-cancer-like-a-badge-claims-saunders-1.1543901#.UkbbOai_EZQ.twitter

 

Am disgusted by this artical and if quoted correctly, as  is also on Jennifer Saunders Facebook Fan Page  ,  It will only serve to anger and infuriate many breast cancer patients lvieing with this vile cruel disease on a daily baise, 

 

Am very surprised and discusted at Jennifer Saunders attitude. And have decided to make my views known  to the times .

 

:womanmad:

 

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If what Jennifer Saunders has said is correct, then i am truly shocked and suprprised at her comments!

How dare she belittle and mock what so many women have to endure with this disease, world wide!

‘Pissed off when hair  grows back?’ What the hell does that mean??? I was so relieved when my hair came back, even though it was awful to manage in the early months.

 

She also mentions a ‘tit tuck’ in the Times. If that is true, i am lost for words. A lumpectomy and free tit tuck…well that is a far far cry from my own definition of surgery i can tell you !

 

I am way too angry to write any more… i am just hoping that she really did not say any of this stuff and the times have got it all wrong!

 

 

 

 

 

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That sounds like a very balanced response Zeppa.  I am always very wary of these media reports as quotes are selective and sometimes manipulated to create a ‘mood’ the journalist is after.   It certainly seems as if Jennifer Saunders’ response, as reported, was at best foolishly expressed; she is entitled to her opinions, of course she is, but with public recognition comes both power and responsibility.

 

I chose to be public about my cancer and its treatment, and on the whole that seems to have been positively received, helping to demystify some of what the treatment was, etc.  At the same time I have always been very careful to avoid ‘normalising’ my experience, because we  are all unique.  Do I wear ‘cancer’ like a badge?  Well, maybe I do - I often think everyone must be sick of my talking about it, or nagging them to get screening or checks, by now - but if doing so raises a bit of awareness and means some other woman/man benefits then it’s worthwhile.

 

No one has ever told me I’m cured or that I won’t die of breast cancer.  My oncologist told me three years ago that he was treating with “curative intent”.  The phrase ‘all clear’ or the word ‘cured’ will never be spoken… I am NED - No Evidence of Disease and happy to be so.  I love life and live it to the full - but the shadow of breast cancer, however small, however faint, never quite goes away, and I don’t think it ever will.  It will only be possible to say I was ‘cured’ if/when my  death certificate says something else on it!

 

If breast cancer is a badge, then unchosen as it is, I’ll wear it proudly until the day no-one else is handed theirs!

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Thank you for bringing this to our attention L.

I’ve just pasted the link in the Secondaries Living forum. Such a shame, JS’s husband did a marvellous article on how breast cancer had impacted on them both a while ago.

I’ve only become more open with my bc since having to use a crutch and having my chemo hair. For years I chose to only tell a small handful of people because I didn’t want to be defined by this ****** illness.

And of course it highlights what so many of us dislike the ‘cure’ myth.

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I fished the article out of my bin and here it is…

 

The interviewer asks if some people want to keep wearing cancer like a badge?

 

“For ever - and I will give you why. Because its the job you never have to work for. You suddenly get so much attention, and if you are not used to that, I bet it can sway you a bit. I’m used to it! My job gives me the attention I would otherwise crave. They must be so p…d (sorry BCC) off when their hair comes back. And you think, 'Oh,come on, cancer is so common now.”

 

I personally tend to try to respect the different ways that people cope, and some people do cope by trying to minimise or make light of it all. But I also think that we should go through life without putting others experience down to make ourselves feel better. And so frankly, I was not impressed.

 

I noticed that the interview also makes reference to Jennifer Saunders taking anti-depressants after her treatment, and that she does now which rather suggests that it wasn’t all just about a ‘tit job’ and that there was an emotional impact on her of the treatment. Should a public figure feel that they have to be honest about their experiences?  I don’t know and I imagine it must be another layer to deal with. But compare this is to the three courageous women who have agreed to be photographed for BCC’s new campaign-  graceful and brave.

 

I would certainly say that Breast Cancer is a job. Too flippin’ right. The job I never wanted. Is it common? Shockingly common. And let’s face it there are a lot easier ways to get a new hair-cut or a ‘tit-job.’ I only hope I am lucky enough to meet my granddaughter.

 

Shame on you Jennifer!

 

Rattles

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Got me badge, i thought a pink one would be apt , & have tweeted jennifer  but have had no reply yet. x  :womanfrustrated:

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I love your badge…is it attention seeking enough though? may I suggest fairy lights?

Ah but seriously I had a quick blah after I’d posted…feeling at bit ‘doomed’ today. Alright now :smileyhappy: but it takes the breath away that someone who has been through all this would make such unkind, because they are just that, unkind remarks.  x

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Am as  livid as everyone else on here and on facebook about the insensitive comments made by JS, if her words were twisted as has been pointed out I still feel she should explain exactly what was said and how they were twisted. As a celebrity who has been through what we’ve been through or are going through more than anyone else she understands how cruel this disease is. Being in the public eye she has a responsibility to address these sensitive issues with tact and compassion, I certainly for one could of done without the so called ‘attention’ a cancer dx brings, I hate everything about this vile disease and as one with secondaries  have too continue on treatments with side effects for the rest of my life.

 

There is no comedy in a breast cancer dx, and so much I have missed out on like having children, going through hellish early menopause , panic attacks, fear and losing all trust in my body (something everyone else takes for granted). She must be off her head too think that any of us likes  the attention or wearing cancer like a badge.  Personally I’d go back to Sarah the invisable normal person that I was before this dammed dx.

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Oh deary, deary me, Ms Saunders, attention seeking breast cancer ladies/gents??? Really appalling statements by a woman who has great media experience re words taken out of context, which appears to be incorrect by Ms Saunders own response. 

Very sad, thoughtless and so inappropriate xx

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Oh dear.  I have been quite fond of JS.  Maybe just because because I grew up with her being silly on the telly.  

 

I really want to believe she has been misquoted, but she seems to have confirmed that she did say this stuff and she only objects to the headline and the way it has been publicised.  I have read that she has been taking antidepressants to cope with the effects of cancer treatment and I have tried to excuse her on those grounds; maybe she has missed a few pills…

 

In reality she must be media savvy by now.  She must know that what she says to journalists may be printed and, if she says something stupid, it will definitely be printed.

 

She does not have a responsibility, in my view, to agree with me about how to deal with cancer.  But, as a public figure she does have a responsibility not to diminish how others deal with it.  She also has a responsibility not to encourage the kind of venom against “cancer survivors” that can be seen on the facebook page run by her fans.  There is a political agenda to reduce sympathy towards anyone disabled and claiming benefits.  She now has the dubious honour of opening that door a little wider and giving permission to nutters to have a go at people with cancer.

 

At least she is aware that she is needy of attention but maybe she does not realise just how much she craves it.  She seems to have done this to sell her book.  Any publicity is better than no publicity, as they say.

 

:smileysad:

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I’ve always been a huge fan of JS…well, until now. I’ve just read her comments and can’t believe her insensitive comments - how dare she assume an intimate knowledge of any of us as to our varying breast cancer experiences and accuse any single sufferer of wearing cancer like a badge?? Surely it’s not a “Badge” any of us asked for! I have just finished my radiotherapy, and still feel a tad fragile, and just don’t need to read unhelpful comments from someone who clearly doesn’t understand how easy it is for these type of negative comments to reduce an otherwise strong individual to tears.

 

For myself, I didn’t tell any of my brothers and sisters until a few weeks after my surgery when I was given my results and advised it had not spread, that way, I spared them any major worry until I knew exactly what I was dealing with. I felt I had to let my sisters know - just in case they wanted to get themselves checked out. Sure I have had some attention -  I told my daughters and siblings and  just a very few close friends and have been sent flowers and wishes of support, and my partner has been brilliant through my treatments. But as for JS saying “Because it is the job you don’t have to work for. You suddenly get so much attention, and if you’re not used to that, I bet it can sway you a little bit”. Well, I am currently on ESA for the first time in 33 years of working in pretty average sorts of jobs all my life, having coincidentally finished working full time and changing jobs just one week before I was diagnosed following my first mammogram. This meant that my new part-time job was terminated when I went into hospital for surgery, because I had not even made it through the probationary period! Like all other BC sufferers, none of this was my choice, and  if this is a “Job you don’t have to work for” then please could JS tell me where are my and every other BC sufferer’s wages for the privilege of this horrible illness? She really has been so lucky in life - to have been talented enough to make a career which has given her a good living and a sense of purpose by making people laugh - Sure she’ll say she’s had to work hard, well so have I and many thousands of other BC sufferers!!! But no fame and fortune for most of us, and certainly no bonus  income from celebrity status! 

Anyway, that’s enough of a rant from me!

Wishing all of you a speedy recovery 

love from

Chris x

 

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My goodness that really takes the biscuit. Just had a look, it’s J.S.'s ‘Bonkers Life.’  One book that will not be on my Father Christmas list.:smileylol:  It’s out in October so she can cash in on the Pink washing and Christmas.

I actually thought there may have been an apology today.

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I was diagnosed last year, chemotherapy followed lumpectomy; then I found out I am BRCA+ so I had both ovaries and both breasts removed.

Millions of pounds have been gathered to combat cancer, and if it weren’t for all the fund raising, and awareness raising, I probably wouldn’t be here, and it’s quite certain that I wouldn’t have had the preventative surgery that I’ve undergone.

 

When I was first diagnosed I came to this website seeking information and reassurance and I got it.  Here wasn’t the only resource I was able to access, and the support and treatment I received was tremendous.

I am grateful and I am happy to still be alive.

And despite all that, I too am sick to the back teeth of the “pink ribbon culture”.   I’ve met women for whom – so it seems to me – breast cancer has been the only exciting thing to have happened to them in their lives.  They live and breathe it… salivating over the last tiny details of the anti-sickness meds, or the radiotherapy burns.  They wanted me to join their coven when I sat in my chair at the hospital, noxious chemotherapy dripping into my veins, eager to find out how big my lump had been, or how it had been discovered, and barely able to contain the most intimate details of how their own diagnoses had been given to them.   “They suck the life and happiness out of you”, my friend told me as she sat with me unable to avoid overhearing two women near to us comparing their hormone receptors like kids playing Top Trumps.

For some people, their illness – any illness – defines them.  It doesn’t just become a badge they wear, it’s a badge they are proud to wear.  I’ll never be proud of having had cancer.  It’s sh*t, and I don’t want it.  I also don’t want a sh*t thing like cancer to define who I am, or what I do.  If I can’t live my life free from cancer, I want to live whatever life I may have left free from having to think about it, or wearing pink ribbons, or discussing it with strangers who suddenly think we have so much in common.

 

I haven’t “beaten cancer’s butt” and I’m not a “survivor”.  Those labels signify that cancer’s presence in my life is still meaningful for me; it isn’t.   I am, however, still here, and at this moment it’s gone away, but it may still come back to get me and who knows, I may also get run over by a bus tomorrow but you can be sure it won’t be when I’m on my way to a bloody pink ribbon support group. 

I give to cancer charities quietly and privately.  I don’t want to march through the streets at 3am in my bra (not that I have any of those left any more), or ask for people to sponsor my pink ribbon cupcakes.  I’m not saying those things are wrong… they are just wrong for me.

This  message board on the forum is entitled “Living with breast cancer”.  We all choose to live life (however long or short that may be) our own way, with different values, interests and hobbies.  My cancer isn’t a hobby, or an interest, and I don’t want to waste one more second of my precious time than I have to thinking about it.

 

How we think and feel about difficult and upsetting things  is very personal and subjective.  Good luck to every woman - and man - who has to deal with breast cancer… either their own, or a loved one’s.

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I just wanted to make a plea for compassion and understanding. 

 

I personally see cancer as a terrible disease which causes suffering and hardship. Too many mothers, sisters, daughters and friends have had their lives cut short. Although I have always found the whole ‘pink’ thing a bit too much in previous years,  I appreciate it’s appeal and I am grateful for the awareness and funding it attracts. Ive thought about designing my own t-shirt with a slightly punk design and a big slash across that part of my body where I used to have a breast, but I daresay it would just terrify most people!!

 

As a woman who has had breast cancer twice, I went through a stage of feeling a bit like a freak. I have a brca1 mutation - does that make me a ‘mutant’ I asked myself?! But, I have tried my best to deal with this and a good friend helped me to see that maybe I have a ‘gene’ for courage and kindness and all the other things - good and bad- which make me who I am.

 

I’ve learned that everyone copes differently and we need to do what works to get us through the dark times.

 

Good luck to anyone reading this thread, wherever you are in your treatment and recovery.

 

xxxxxx

 

 

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It’s a shame there is a ridiculous amount of attention given to so called ‘celebrities.’ You will never see me grinning inanely behind a talking head on the television. J.S. made some very unkind remarks. I don’t wear a pink ribbon and I don’t do sponsored walks in bras. I know J.S. did do one of the night time bra walks and I expect she made a large amount of money for charity. I’m not knocking that, it’s just not for me. I prefer a quieter way to raise funds.

Just as the red ribbon is worn so now is the pink. Quite how some breast cancer patients were then accused of basking in attention and being terribly p*ssed off when their hair started to grow is a mystery to me. It might give us an interesting insight into J.S.'s thoughts. But unfortunately it may cause upset to some who are living with or dealing with cancer. And to those who have lost a loved one to cancer.  Unfortunately these people don’t have the same resources to hand to challange any of her remarks. 

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We have won the battle but not the warxx

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I’ve read the article link and been on the FB page, several things intrigued me. I find it very strange that people who expressed their disappointment or sadness at JS’s comments were laid open to offensive abuse by members on there. Surely the same respect should have been given to those people as they evidently give to JS for the article. I read through all the replies and did comment myself but wish I read all the posts on here before I did. I’ve always liked JS and like many have laughed at her comedy but reading that she allegedly didn’t say/mean what was written confused me as to why a retraction wasn’t called for. I wasn’t aware she has written a book about her cancer and can’t help agreeing with many others that its a case of the kettle calling the teapot black.
It really saddens me the way celebrities, Ms Jolie springs to mind blazen over newspapers and magazines about their preventative surgery incase they developed cancer. This seems to be acceptable and she’s exalted for it, but let’s be realistic there are probably thousands of women each week going through the same experience and most probably not even their neighbours know a thing about it. There are many women and men celebrity or otherwise who go through this and work blooming hard to make life as normal as possible for their loved ones. Thinking about it I imagine it isn’t easy for men who are diagnosed because like men who suffer spousal abuse they don’t like people knowing for fear of being ridiculed or told to man up.
I’ve lost many friends female and male to cancer, not one of them sought the attention, tbh when I was dx recently the last thing I thought of was ‘ooooh I can get many miles out of this’ . My first thought was of slight guilt and definite sadness that my darling hubby who lost his brother to cancer a couple of yrs ago and his best friend of over 42 yrs to cancer earlier this year. The pain is still very raw, I would give anything for him not to go this journey again so soon.

It’s been said on this thread that no Dr can tell us we’re not going to die from this and we’re clear, I have to agree. When I saw the consultant for my post op follow up one of the questions I asked was if I had all this treatment would that be it and it wouldn’t come back. She apologised and said they could NOT give me or anyone that assurance only that they would do everything they could to help me to fight it.

So, Ms S, if its not a battle why do we have to ‘fight’ it? Why have you put your own badge on by writing a book about your experience and why not carry on wearing your wig until your hair was longer then no one would have noticed it wasn’t a short haircut you’d treated yourself to.

I don’t think I can ever watch Ms Saunders again without thinking about the words she chose to use .

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Well said, Lulu.  I totally agree - if ‘wearing the badge’ means I can help raise awareness and/or help other people deal with this stuff then I’ll wear it proudly. 

 

I’ll wear it in support of the many amazing friends I’ve made along the way, some now facing new diagnoses  or long term side effects.

 

I’ll wear it in memory of the too many lovely friends this evil disease has stolen from us.

 

_ I _  don’t need attention but this disease does - pink and fluffy it is not.

 

Oops. Better stop before I go into rant mode!!

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 This is not about  Jennifer Saunders but it is  about a BBC prog.  so hope another R4 listener might be able to help me. Did other people  hear the excellent play  on Sat afternoon (“Goodbye”) and if so please can someone direct  me to the place on this new website where I might find comments on it - and on other subjects that used to be listed under “current, topical issues” …or something like that? Many thanks.

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Hi Topsy Mo, I think this might be the link you are lookign for - only five days left though bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qgxs