Doctoral Dissertation Research: How Oncologists and Patients Understand the Cancer Experience

University Of California-San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

According to the American Cancer Society, nearly half of all U.S. citizens will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime. In 2012, approximately 40% of all new diagnoses for women were for breast or gynecological cancers, and 30% of all new diagnoses for men were for prostate or testicular cancer. Those diagnosed often need extensive treatment, which can result in the loss of function or removal entirely of gendered/sexed body parts (for example, impotency or infertility or the surgical removal of breasts or testicles). This disruption of the gendered body that cancer patients face provides a unique space to examine the salience of gender in everyday life. I argue that when people's bodies are altered, they must find new ways to experience and understand them. This dissertation examines how cancer and treatment of the disease can challenge or reinforce cultural scripts that define the gendered body. While cancer and its various forms of treatment can be understood as disruptive, their effects on the gendered body have been neglected in academic study. In order to access medical discourse surrounding gender and the body, I interview male and female oncologists, knowing that their position gives them the distinctive authority to prescribe solutions to the gendered concerns of their patients. In addition, I interview men and women who have been diagnosed with prostate, testicular, breast and gynecological cancer to find out how they view the changes to their gendered body and subsequent changes to self and identity from undergoing treatment. Policy recommendations are generally made based on studies focused solely on the experiences of women with breast cancer. Knowing this, it is essential to study the experience of male and female patients with various forms of cancer, in order to improve patient care overall. This dissertation also promises to make significant empirical insights to improve cancer care and will provide noteworthy contributions to the sociology of gender, gender studies, sociology of the body, and cultural and medical sociology.