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BODY IMAGE AND MASTECTOMY

This research examines the relationship between a woman's body image and mastectomy. A body image is the way a person perceives and experiences her or his own body (Miller, 1991, p. 727). Women suffer from body image distortions more than men to a significant degree (Miller, 1991, p. 730). A person's perceptions of body image are influenced by what society has taught them to think is important, by media images of female and male bodies, and by the reactions of family, friends, and acquaintances toward a person's body (Paxton, 1993, pp. 4351.

A mastectomy is the surgical excision or amputation of the breast (Stefanek, 1990, p. 28). Breast cancer is almost always the underlying cause for the performance of a mastectomy (Stefanek, 1990, p. 28). The removal of a breast usually dramatically alters to clothed appearance of a woman's body. A mastectomy always results in a substantive change in the unclothed appearance of a woman's body. Thus, whatever image a woman has of her body, that image is altered by the performance of a mastectomy. The performance of a lumpectomy (wherein only a portion of the breast tissue is removed) may not result in as dramatic a change in appearance (Kreitler, et al., 1993, pp. 5262).

Depending upon the importance an individual woman attaches to her image of her own body, a variety of coping strategies may be employed. The fully clothed appearance of a woman who has experienced a mastectomy may be disguised through the use of padded clothing or devices worn under clothing. The unclothed appearance of a woman who has experienced a mastectomy requires more complicated strategies that may include breast reconstruction surgery or breast implant surgery (Levy, et al., 1992, pp. 349354). The goal of breast reconstruction is the achievement of symmetry and either the preservation or the restoration of a positive body image (Knobf and Stahl, 1991, pp. 200206).

All women do not react to a mastect...

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BODY IMAGE AND MASTECTOMY. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:49, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1683725.html