Breast, uterine, and vaginal cancers: Why does our femininity feel like a poisoned gift? (By Fatima Diop Ba)

This is the question every woman asks herself in the waiting room. Why this breast that has—or hasn't yet—nourished my child? Why this uterus that carried life? Why is what makes me a woman also what can take me away? It feels as if God has given us a magnificent gift, but that a pain has been hidden inside.

But if you look closely, it's not a poisoned gift. In fact, it's the most powerful gift ever entrusted to a human being.

Why did God create woman with these attributes?

He could have done things differently. But He created woman with breasts for a reason: to be the first source of love and nourishment on Earth. No milk in the world will ever replace a mother's.

He created the womb to be the first cradle of humanity, the only gateway through which life is perpetuated.

He created the ovaries to be the reservoir of life, where everything begins, with thousands of eggs from birth.

A man builds a house; a woman builds a people, the world.

That's why it's sacred.

And it is precisely because it is sacred that we must protect it. The problem doesn't stem from our femininity, but from the silence in which we have confined it. We were taught modesty, and it is a source of pride, the most beautiful of values. But we have confused modesty with silence. We don't dare touch what is sacred, we don't dare speak of our intimate pain, our bleeding, until it is too late. Cancer doesn't kill because it is stronger than a woman; it kills because we have allowed it to progress in silence. Yet, the earlier it is detected, the better the chances of recovery.

Today, this sacred body is under attack from 5 cancers that dare not speak their name.

First, breast cancer, the most common type, does not only affect women over 50: it also affects young women under 30 and can manifest itself as a painless lump, nipple discharge or a change in the skin, such as an orange peel appearance.

Next, cervical cancer, caused by the papillomavirus, is the only cancer that can be virtually eradicated through vaccination and regular smears every three years.

There is also endometrial cancer, which affects the body of the uterus and is mainly indicated by abnormally heavy periods or any bleeding occurring after menopause — a sign that is never insignificant.

Then comes ovarian cancer, the most insidious of all, nicknamed the "silent killer" because it develops painlessly at the beginning, with only symptoms such as a swollen belly, persistent abdominal pain, a frequent urge to urinate, or a feeling of early satiety.

Finally, vulvar and vaginal cancers, which are never discussed out of modesty, can reveal themselves through persistent itching, a lesion that does not heal, or bleeding outside of menstruation.

Our femininity is not poisoned

Today, in the midst of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, let's make peace with our bodies. These sacred organs don't deserve our fear; they deserve our attention. Feeling ourselves is not immodest. Talking about our concerns isn't shameful. It's protecting the body God has entrusted to us.

The fight does not end on October 31st.

Fatima Diop Ba