Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic [Paperback]

Victoria A. Brownworth (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2000

One-third of women run a lifetime risk of developing cancer, and studies have shown that lesbians are especially at risk. They often don't access healthcare because of homophobia in the medical establishment and inadequate insurance coverage. With its diversity of views and experience, Coming out of Cancer includes contributions from Audre Lorde, Ruthann Robson, Pat Parker, Rachel Carson, and Dr. Susan Love and offers information and support for survivors, loved ones, and community activists.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While the term "epidemic" is slightly misleading, according to Dr. Susan Love (interviewed in this collection), lesbians may indeed be at a greater risk for breast cancer because they are less likely to get pregnant, and early pregnancy helps prevent the disease. In addition, editor Brownworth writes, "Our experiences with sexism, homophobia and racism make it less likely for us to seek out medical care." Brownworth, a medical reporter and author (Too Queer: Essays from a Radical Life, etc.), has collected stories, memoirs, poetry, graphic art and articles written by and about lesbians with cancer. The volume opens with a selection by the late poet Audre Lorde, whose Cancer Journals were among the first writings to bring breast cancer out of the closet. An excerpt from Ellen Leopold's collection of Rachel Carson's letters to her physician documents the environmentalist's struggle to understand her disease (the author of Silent Spring saw a connection between pesticides and cancer). Exceptionally moving is "Who Killed the Shark?" in which Brownworth pays tribute to an early lover who endured a long, painful death from colon cancer because she was too poor to have access to competent medical attention. Paula Berg, a health law professor, provides clear information on how to obtain adequate health insurance for cancer treatments. Joan Nestle, co-founder of New York City's Herstory Archives, describes her battle with colon cancer, and there is a moving and erotic excerpt from the novel Murder at the Nightwood Bar by Katherine V. Forrest. Covering a broad range of experiences, this is a rich and useful collection that will have no trouble reaching its target market among lesbian readers. (Oct.) FYI: All proceeds from this volume will be donated to the Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Journalist and lesbian activist Brownworth has edited a highly subjective and personal collection of fiction and nonfiction by 30 lesbian writers who have been (or whose characters have been) diagnosed with cancer. Among these well-respected writers is the late Audre Lorde, represented by an excerpt from A Burst of Light (1988), which describes her search for an alternative therapy for breast cancer in the mid-1980s and the obstacles presented by the medical establishment. Excerpts from letters by Rachel Carson to her physician, in which she deals with her breast cancer in a scientific and detached style, make for riveting reading. In a 1999 interview, oncologist Susan Love discusses whether lesbians actually are at increased risk for breast cancer. The trend toward consumer empowerment, as well as caregivers' heightened awareness of the need for cultural competence and sensitivity to lesbian and trangendered patients, highlights the progress that has been made in just a few short years. It should be noted that this book was compiled as a benefit for the nonprofit Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer in Washington, DC. Because it includes poetry, fiction, and a history of lesbian cancer activism, this book is recommended not just for large consumer health libraries but also for collections in women's and lesbian studies.DMartha E. Stone, Massachusetts General Hosp. Lib., Boston
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press (September 19, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580050441
• ISBN-13: 978-1580050449
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,982,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Victoria A. Brownworth is a Pulitizer Prize-nominated journalist and author of "Day of the Dead," "Too Queer," "Film Fatales" and "Rock Hudson: A Biography" and editor of the award-winning "Coming Out of Cancer," "Night Bites" and "Lost in America." Her essays, stories and columns have appeared in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, Village Voice, the Advocate and OUT magazine, as well as over 50 anthologies. She's reviewed for Publisher's Weekly, Booklist and a plethora of other newspapers, magazines and journals. She mentors young inner-city writers, has written several award-winning independent short films, including "Mondays" and "but would you take her back?" and teaches writing and film at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Read her political blog at www.victoriabrownworth.com, read her columns at www.curvemag.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lesbian Cancer Epidemic Comes Out of the Closet, December 11, 2000

By 

Seal Press (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic (Paperback)

"If you've ever looked for information about the personal battles of lesbians with cancer -- beyond the scope of statistics and risk factors -- and were disappointed, don't fret. An impressive new book, sponsored by the Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer, will soon hit the shelves. Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic (Seal Press), edited by Victoria A. Brownworth, is the first anthology to address the devastating effects of cancer on the lesbian community. It offers candid, moving testimonies written by and for lesbians with cancer.

The book combines the voices of numerous writers in an extraordinary effort that began just November of last year. The publication coincides with Healing Works, the first-ever conference on lesbians and cancer, organized by the Mautner Project. The conference runs September 21 to 23.

...The Mautner Project, founded in 1990, is a national organization dedicated to fighting the lesbian cancer epidemic. It offers information and services to the lesbian community and to healthcare providers.

Brownworth, an award-winning writer and cancer-survivor, was the first to write about the increased risk for breast cancer among lesbians. In her introduction to the anthology, she eloquently recounts how the book came about. A detailed cancer diary written by Audre Lorde follows, along with personal stories, essays and poems by authors such as Sandra Steingraber, Rachel Carson, Joan Nestle, Pat Parker, Adrienne Rich, Marilyn Hacker, Ruthann Robson, Dr. Susan Love and others.

The stories explore the emotional and physical rigors of living with cancer, such as facing treatment decisions, addressing political and socio-economic concerns, and -- perhaps most compellingly -- wrestling with fear, illness and death on a daily basis. Proceeds from the book...will fund cancer education and direct services for women who partner with women.

'So many women, so many different cancers, such divergent experiences of treatment and care and survival -- or not. I could not include them all,' Brownworth writes. Indeed, Coming Out of Cancer is a testament to the power of sharing one's stories. This is a book to be read and discussed." --Sarah Albert...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Radical Procedures, December 11, 2000

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Seal Press (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic (Paperback)

"...Today, many of those middle-aged second wavers who finally mobilized for breast cancer are contributors to Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic, edited by journalist and disability rights activist Victoria Brownworth. This...radical book focuses on lesbians with cancer.

The tone of the anthology is urgent. Audre Lorde writes about her fear of death in an excerpt from The Cancer Journals. Jackie Winnow, who started the nation's first feminist cancer project in San Francisco in 1986, begins her essay by declaring, 'Everything about cancer is political.' Mixed in with the activist fire and practical information (how to get decent insurance, when to fire your doctor, what the scar looks like) is the stuff of everyday life: sex and relationships. Winnow's essay is preceded by two poems written by her lover, Teya Schaffer. Both are about Winnow, and the latter movingly contemplates the few minutes after her death, 10 years ago, from metastatic disease.

Sometimes the fear and loss are transformed into erotic energy, making the connection between cancer and lesbianism not so incidental. The sense of feminine anomie that came with losing a breast leads one woman to take her first woman lover. Mona Oikawa's poem about monthly self-exams raises the specter of her mother's death from breast cancer. Oikawa purges the memory with the image of a woman's mouth on her breast, 'sucking me hard/making me hot with life...to fill this moment with/craving rage/instead of silent grief.' Poet Pat Parker describes a post-mastectomy massage loosening up her 'numb' body that no one except her surgeon and her lover had seen. 'Like fine bread I rise...I reawake/I want to kiss you/instead I say thank you/and go home.'" --Jennifer Baumgarder, Girlfriends Magazine

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense, Informative and Entertaining, February 4, 2007

By 

E. B. MULLIGAN "Bronwyn" (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic (Paperback)

With a compelling introduction by Victoria A. Brownworth you know that you are going to be reading a tremendous collection of work.

Hilarious opening graphic by Alison Bechdel

Terrific dramatic and passionate short story by Tee Corinne.

With 32 Essays, poems, prose and fiction by outstanding writers including -

Katherine V. Forrest
Rachel Carson
Adrienne Rich
Audre Lorde
Barabra Smith
Pat Parker
Joan Nestle
Ruthann Robson

Book Description - One-third of women run a lifetime risk of developing cancer, and studies have shown that lesbians are especially at risk. They often don't access healthcare because of homophobia in the medical establishment and inadequate insurance coverage. With its diversity of views and experience, Coming out of Cancer includes contributions from Audre Lorde, Ruthann Robson, Pat Parker, Rachel Carson, and Dr. Susan Love and offers information and support for survivors, loved ones, and community activists.