Two years after Angelina Jolie wrote an op-ed in the New York Times explaining her decision to have a double mastectomy, the actress has penned another piece to announce her more recent choice to remove her ovaries and Fallopian tubes. Throughout it all, the 39-year-old actress has challenged society’s assumptions about what it means to be a desirable woman.
Jolie has spoken openly about her efforts to prevent cancer, which claimed the lives of several female members of her family. Her mother died from ovarian cancer at the age of 56. Jolie herself is at greater risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer because she has tested positive for BRCA1, a genetic mutation that makes carriers more likely to develop those diseases.
Jolie’s first preventative surgery made national headlines, particularly because the actress — whose career has included several nude scenes — is considered to be somewhat of a sex symbol. As Forbes’ Liza Donnelly pointed out at the time, “her body is an American iconic body.” Removing her breasts seemed like a radical act to many of her fans, some of whom actually went into mourning for their perceived loss.
While the second surgery may seem less dramatic to Jolie’s adoring male fans, it actually has bigger implications for her female reproductive system: She’s now in menopause, cannot have any more children, and will use a progesterone IUD to maintain her hormone levels.
Nonetheless, as Jolie has spoken openly about her recent reproductive health decisions, she’s always emphasized that her physical changes don’t affect her womanhood. “I feel feminine, and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family,” she wrote in her latest New York Times piece. “I know my children will never have to say, ‘Mom died of ovarian cancer.’”
Similarly, when she had the double mastectomy, she wrote, “I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.”
It’s a message that other women may be starting to take to heart. According to several studies conducted about a year after the actress’ first disclosure, a so-called “Angelina Jolie effect” has led an increasing number of people to follow in her footsteps and seek out genetic counseling — perhaps partly because they feel reassured that considering preventative surgery will not make them any less of a woman.
“Angelina Jolie stating she has a BRCA1 mutation and going on to have a risk-reducing mastectomy is likely to have had a bigger impact than other celebrity announcements, possibly due to her image as a glamorous and strong woman,” Gareth Evans, a professor at the University of Manchester and the lead researcher for one of those recent studies, told BBC News. “This may have lessened patients’ fears about a loss of sexual identity post-preventative surgery.”
So Jolie could be making an impact among women who find themselves at risk for cancer. On top of that, helping to nudge the general public toward a more expansive view of gender and sexual identity — and one that isn’t quite so dependent on physical body parts — could also indirectly help benefit the transgender community.
Trans individuals, some of whom choose to undergo surgery to physically transition and some of whom do not, have long argued that their specific anatomy shouldn’t influence other people’s understanding of their gender identity. Fixating too much on body parts obscures the realities of trans people’s lives, transgender activist and Orange Is The New Black star Laverne Cox explained on Katie Couric’s talk show last year. In other words: Cox is allowed to celebrate her femininity regardless of what body parts she may have. Jolie is claiming something similar for herself, too.