Women seeking breast implants are often not informed of all the risks, and there is a serious lack of research on the longterm effects of breast implants that was not tainted by conflicts of interest regarding funding. Also, there is an assumption sometimes made that women who get mastectomies (surgical breast removal, for example for breast cancer) will want implants (sadly, many of these women are more at risk for poor outcomes as a result of exposure to silicone and products used in the manufacturing of breast implants). Beliefs about one's body image are important and I don't mean to undermine a woman's ability to make an informed choice nor dis-empower her capability to take charge of her body, but I continue to question what kind of information is really being offered.
I think the Canadian Women's Health Network (CWHN, see them here) sums the film up nicely:
"At a time when more women than ever are getting breast implants, fewer voices than ever seem to be asking “Why?” And fewer still are asking “Are they safe?” ABSOLUTELY SAFE takes an open-minded, personal approach to the controversy over breast implant safety. Ultimately, ABSOLUTELY SAFE is the story of everyday women who find themselves and their breasts in the tangled and confusing intersection of health, money, science, and beauty."
Photo from the Absolutely Safe film website: http://www.absolutelysafe.com/
Thank you to the Toronto Public Library for this DVD loan
2 comments:
Great to bring this to attention of others, Mag. In Canada we fought to have the federal government not allow the approval of silicone gel breast implants in 2005 when the manufacturers put an application in to government. Unfortunately we lost that battle and they were approved in 2006, despite the known toxicity of key ingredients in them. People are giving their teenage daughters the gift of implant surgery as graduation presents in the U.S...probably here too though I've never seen any documentation of it. Sick, sick, sick...
Thanks for your comment!
I certainly found it scary that even the saline solution filled breast implants have a silicone outside layer.
I think just one look at the goop that's left after a decade of being in and most teenagers might think differently..
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