The impact of breast cancer on women’s lives in Bangladesh

Abstract

Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases that often takes lives. Inside the human body, the cells that are supposed to grow and double at an average rate in order to replace the already damaged cells and the cancer cells start to grow when that whole process malfunctions. As for this study, I have focused on Breast Cancer specifically. Studies and reports published by the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasize that women are most likely to be the victim of it. Therefore, this dissertation explores how breast cancer impacts the livelihood of women affected by cancer: What are the factors responsible for their reaction towards the disease? What are the significant changes that have happened in their lives? And how are they coping with it? Additionally, this paper will further dive into the subject by questioning the changes that have happened in the lives of a particular group of women who have suffered from it. Moreover, this paper will give an elaborative scenario which will help to understand the journey of breast cancer survivors through the variations. For this qualitative study, primary data was collected by interviewing the women diagnosed with cancer and the survivors. The findings reveal that how a diagnosed patient deals with this dangerous disease is often linked to their surroundings. It is seen that often, women do not feel comfortable enough to share their struggles regarding a disease like this. Due to it being in a very intimate part of the body, the habit of trying to be secretive rises. As a result, it creates some sort of pressure that adds to the burden mentally and so on. Furthermore, to analyze these findings, the study incorporates Pierre Bourdieu’s Habitus side by side, covering a portion of Bourdieu's Body Hexis theories. These theories help us understand how our surroundings matter regarding our habits and how we do everything in our everyday lives. However we see ourselves present ourselves, the thoughts that we have everything is the influence of the society that we live in. Hence, the study would contribute to the existing research on the diagnosed patients and their journeys. Not only that, but it also adds to the experiences of those women and how they react to it–their behavior being a social construct.