Prostate cancer is a hallmark of privilege.

[nightflight]

It also affects North American men way more than anywhere else in the world, largely due to living and eating habits. Men in Detroit get prostate cancer at about 100 times the rate of men in Hanoi. One hundred times. That’s not even close. Prostate cancer is a first-world problem.

http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/no-to-movember

 

[29apples]

The hack that wrote that article is giving feminists a bad name, and further promotes the idea that feminism is equated with misandry and hate, instead of gender equality.

It is a shame.

Any group should be able to raise awareness for their cause, even if their ailment is specific to them. If the author was about equality instead of hating men, they would be making the same comments about breast cancer.

 

[Ada Lovelace]

According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, 97% of men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer are age 50 or older, and 60% are over the age of 65. In that regard many who are afflicted with it have been privileged with longer lives than many living in dire impoverishment who will not survive their childhood. The reason the countries with the highest life expectancies are among those with the highest rates of cancer is that the risk of many cancer diseases increases substantially with age.

Still to call any cancer a "hallmark of privilege" is crass. There are many people who are living in First World countries who have still struggled through financial hardships, and the diagnosis of cancer can exacerbate them considerably, especially in the United States. Even if the person diagnosed with cancer has insurance, there are frequently expenses that are not covered by it and / or require an incredible amount of hassle for approval. It's not uncommon for medications that are vitally imperative for some patients to be routinely denied by their insurers, like Neupogen which is outrageously expensive even if you can get the new generic version of it. Many people who are diagnosed with prostate cancer are elderly and do not have the income they once did, or the vitality to withstand treatment and recover from it. Many also ate healthily and took care of themselves. Cancer is like a beast. It doesn't care if you are a billionaire like Steve Jobs (who did not have prostate cancer but nevertheless did die from cancer, and did leave behind children still in their youth) or a widowed pensioner struggling to pay the mortgage every month. Even if you have led a privileged life, wealth will not inoculate you from the physical and emotional suffering that comes with prostate cancer.

And....... I'm a feminist, as are many of my friends, family, and professors. I've helped with Movember fundraising events that raised substantial money specifically to help men who have prostate and testicular cancer. It's a sizable amount raised and it goes towards tangible needs such as for assistance in paying for medical expenses and other significant expenses. This month we also started a new effort to help pay for the travel expenses many patients have because local treatment isn't available.

 

[RDKirk]

Although apparently all men get prostate cancer if we live long enough and although if non-aggressive prostate cancer detectable late in a man's life is a negligible problem for that particular man, some men do get aggress prostate cancer early in their lives. For those men, prostate cancer is as grievous as any other kind of cancer found early in a person's life.

 

[Yeshuas_My_Freedom]

http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/no-to-movember

Haven't you heard? There are men that think America isn't a first world problem. So this can't be true.

Diet is of course part of the cancer issue. Lifetyle, exercise habits, sexual activity, all play into the risks.

Zinc is an incredibly important supplement for men especially. It is a natural cleanser if you will for the prostate in that sperm is putrid. Zinc is a tissue cleanser and helps reduce the risks of prostate cancer.

Bicyclists , men of course here, very often experience issues with the prostate due to the seat being an issue that compresses the nerves and therein affects the prostate. Thankfully there are bicycle seats that are made especially for men that can stop this being an issue.

 

[iluvatar5150]

A couple things:

This column was written by a guy.

This column was written four years ago.

Eight days after this guy wrote this column four years ago, he wrote an apology for writing it.

That apology (which was written eight days after that guy wrote that column four years ago) is linked to at the very top of the piece provided in the OP.