The "Shame" of Breast Cancer in the Middle East

This morning, Robin Roberts of the ABC News' morning show "Good Morning America" reported from the Middle East; the subject was breast cancer and how it affects women who are diagnosed. As most people know by now, Roberts recently had breast cancer surgery herself, and is currently under treatment. She is touring the Middle East with First Lady Laura Bush, to promote breast cancer awareness, and the importance of early detection.

In her live report from the Arab state of Abu Dhabi, Robin spoke with two women who are surviving breast cancer, and a doctor. They revealed that breast cancer is something to be ashamed of, and a big secret. Once diagnosed, they do not talk about it, and are very careful about whom they tell, or if they tell at all. Breast cancer is considered something God has given to them, and it is a shame. One of the ladies whom Robin talked with, said that her friends warned that her husband might leave her. "Men are all the same", she remarked, when commenting on the breast as a body part that is important to a woman's beauty and sexuality, and without which their husbands would no longer find them desirable. In a shocking admission, she said that other woman advised her not to let the secret out if she wanted her single daughters to marry. They told her that many men would not marry a girl whose mother had breast cancer!