Jennifer Beals Quotes

Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was supposed to do. I didn't want to exploit it or be too "actory" about it, if that makes any sense. That's also why I didn't shave my head; I feel like you have to earn that. I applaud other actors who do that and I am not ripping on them, but to me, that's a badge of honor if you're fighting this disease.

Should I talk about [having breast cancer]? Because how many things could I have? You know black, lesbian - I'm like, I can't be the poster child for everything. At least with the LGBT issues we get a parade and a float and it's a party.

Cancer has been unfortunately in my life. My mom's best friend is kicking ass in her battle with breast cancer. Both of my grandmas had cancer. I recently lost a friend to cancer.

If you have breast tissue, you can have breast cancer. So don’t be macho about it.

Cancer Doesn’t Care How Busy You Are. Make an appointment!

I lost my mom to breast cancer about three years ago, and it has changed me forever.

Obviously, breast cancer is very much out there but cervical cancer isn't talked about as much because there's a bit more of a stigma around it. Certainly that's something I want to make sure that young girls know.

I hope that other women can benefit from my experience. Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness. But today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action... It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options. Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.

I am a 36-year-old person with breast cancer, and not many people know that that happens to women my age or women in their 20s. This is my opportunity now to go out and fight as hard as I can for early detection.

I can tell my children that they don't need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.

Please make sure everyone knows how much their messages mean to me. They have added greatly to my peace of mind. I only wish some of the writers would take a more positive approach to the menace of cancer. I've got it, sure; but I'm not afraid to use the word. Some of them act like it's a dirty word. That's the wrong attitude. We should all bring it out in the open, recognize that it exists, and fight it! Cancer is everybody's enemy. We can't 'think' an enemy out of existence by ignoring it.

For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices.

The idea is to encourage men to go with their wives and screen. So, if the wife is going to go and do her screening, then the man can go and do his baseline screening, too. Men need to be aware of the health of their bodies, as well - prostate cancer and breast cancer are almost on the same level.

Breast Cancer is not necessarily a death sentence, stay strong and centered and be involved in all aspects of your treatment.

It's a shame that cancer has been something that's been accepted in society as something that's always gonna be there.

If you live long enough, sooner or later everybody you know has cancer.

Consumers have to understand that the purpose of these claims is to get them to buy the product.

Women smirk at baldness. How adorable would they find it if they began to lose their breasts in their late twenties? If both tits just shrunk up - unevenly I might add - and eventually turned into wine-cork nubs. Then it would be a different story. Then men would get the pity that they deserve. As far as I'm concerned, baldness is the male breast cancer only worse, because almost everyone gets it. True, it's not life threatening. Just social-life threatening. But in New York City, there is no difference.

What cancer does is, it forces you to focus, to prioritize, and you learn what’s important.

More than 10 million Americans are living with cancer, and they demonstrate the ever-increasing possibility of living beyond cancer.

The triumph of advertising in the culture industry is that consumers feel compelled to buy and use its products even though they see through them.

People didn't feel so much shame around it and that they didn't feel so much humiliation around it. And the other thing that people have given me a lot of feedback about - something I'm very excited about - is all the stuff around chemo as an "empathetic warrior."

Before my diagnosis [cancer] I was a competitor but not a fierce competitor. When I was diagnosed, that turned me into a fighter.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. So the only thing to really be afraid of is if you don't go get your mammograms.

I don't believe in cancer walks. Well, I believe in them because they exist but I'd rather just give money straight up and save my Saturday afternoon. I can make my own t-shirt, that's not incentive. Plus I don't think cancer responds to how far people walk. I don't think cancer's sitting at home, 'What? How many people walked how far? How many people walked how far wearing the same shirt? That's crazy! I'm out of here!' Remission.