Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde was a woman of strength. She changed the views on what a black, lesbian, warrior poet could be. One crucial point in Lorde’s life was her diagnosis with breast cancer. When she was diagnosed, she went through a difficult time where she questioned many things about her life and how she lived it. Lorde’s The Cancer Journals describe her journey with pain and suffering. With this journey she lost a breast which, to Lorde, was like losing a part of her soul. Though she lost her breast she gained strength through the women in her life. Though the mastectomy and chemotherapy helped her survive physically, the women in her life gave her the strength to survive spiritually and mentally.

      In our society a breast is seen as a characterizing trait of a woman. For Lorde, one of the hardest parts of her diagnosis was the idea that she would no longer have her breast. She recounts her sadness towards the absence of her breast. She says, “And for the first time deeply and fleetingly a groundswell of sadness rolled up over me and that filled my mouth and eyes almost to drowning. My right breast represented such an area of feeling and pleasure for me, how could I bear never to feel that again?” (43). A breast is one of the things on a woman’s body that makes her uniquely beautiful and when it is gone there is a lack of identity. This shows the importance of what makes a woman who they are. This idea of the breast can connect back to pleasure week. In pleasure week we talked about the importance of the erotic. The idea that the erotic is not just something sexual but something that gives us true feelings of happiness. So, with a breast she feels the comfort of her womanhood and feels connected to herself. She finds pleasure in being able to touch her breast and when it is not there it seems to weaken her. So, for Lorde to come out of this makes her a warrior. It makes her a warrior to be able to live a life after the death of her breast. 

         When Lorde’s mastectomy was over she was recommended by doctors and nurses to get a prosthetic breast. This, to them, is the normal way to deal with the loss of a breast. At this time it was common and even expected of women to get a prosthetic breast. To Lorde, this seemed to reinforce the patriarchal society that objectifies breasts. Lorde says in her journals, “For not even the most skillful prosthesis in the world could undo that reality, or feel the way my breast had felt, and whether I would love my body one-breasted now, or remain forever alien to myself” (44). This beautiful quote conveys Lorde’s belief that having one breast that was real and a part of her body was better than trying to cover up the lost breast with a fake one. Lorde almost seems to talk about her lost breast as a person. She grieves for the lost breast and does not replace it with another because for her, it had a special place in her heart that could not be replaced. She needed that empty place on her chest to remain empty in order to remind herself of the breast she lost. She believed that a prosthetic would be a way of covering up the pain of the loss. With denying the pain of an amputation there would be no strength to build off of. Lorde used this amputation as a way to make her a stronger woman.

Lorde’s journals illustrate how significant women were in healing her mental state after the operation. She decided that she wanted to live her life with the people who were most important to her. In Lorde’s journal she describes how women supported her mental recovery:

But support will always have a special and vividly erotic set of image/meanings for me now, one of which is floating upon a sea within a ring of women like warm bubbles keeping me afloat upon the surface of that sea. I can feel the texture of inviting water just beneath their eyes, and do not fear it. It is the sweet smell of their breath and laughter and voices calling my name that gives me volition, helps me remember I want to turn away from looking down. These images flow quickly, the tangible floods of energy rolling off these women toward me that I converted into power to heal myself (39).

These women kept Lorde afloat and prevented her from drowning in her own sorrows. This signifies that women have the power to lift each other up during their lowest moments. With the image of her being kept afloat by all of the women showed that they kept her from drowning in her own sorrows. This made Lorde a stronger person because it gave her a sense of the power of other women and the impact they have on each other’s lives. 

         Lorde’s The Cancer Journals reflect upon her hard times with breast cancer and the moments where she felt she could not control her body. Lorde states “The acceptance of death as a fact rather than a desire to die, can empower my energies with a forcefulness and vigor not always possible when one eye is out unconsciously for eternity” (26). In this quote it shows the toll that breast cancer had on Lorde mentally. She describes the situation that she is in as one that is not of free will. She does not have the choice on how her body will react to the cancer. This would be mentally draining for anyone. Yet, she survived all of this and became a stronger woman. In Lorde’s “A Litany for Survival” she states “We were never meant to survive.” But, through her journey with breast cancer it transformed those words. Maybe we were never meant to survive alone. Perhaps we were meant to survive if we had the support of other women in our lives to carry us through tough times and keep us afloat.

Works Cited

Lorde, Audre. “A Litany for Survival by Audre Lorde.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 

www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147275/a-litany-for-survival.
Lorde, Audre. The Cancer Journals. 2nd ed., Aunt Lute Books, 1980.

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As a breast cancer patient, Audre Lorde was mistreated by doctors and medical professionals. Rather than an isolated incident, Lorde’s experiences reflect the broader racism, sexism, and homophobia that many experiences in the medical industry. In this blog post, I show how Lorde’s queer community became a crucial support structure that helped her navigate these traumatic and horrifying experiences. While she lamented the fact that she had no models to learn from, she used her experiences to write The Cancer Journals manifesting herself as a role model for individuals, such as queer women of color patients, who were in need of guidance. 

Lorde recorded her mistreatment in The Cancer Journals. Lorde equated her experience of breast removal to that of being removed by her mother, “The pain of separation from my breast was at least as sharp as the pain of separating from my mother” (26). This sentence elaborates on how her pain was a physical and emotional experience that left her vulnerable. Not many patients received the same attention or care that was rightly needed post operations. Lorde touches on her personal experience with being neglected basic utilities and care. Lorde writes, “I yelled and screamed and complained about the cold and begged for extra blankets, but none came” (27). For recovering patients, it’s essential for medical staff to pay attention and provide the necessary needs, not to ignore them and refuse them care. Like many patients, Lorde was scared after waking up from her operation. When the medical staff refused to give Lorde attention, this was a sign of neglect, which could have been dangerous for her health.

As Lorde was in the hospital battling breast cancer, her friends gave her hope through solidarity. Lorde writes, “I remember their faces as we shared the knowledge and the promise of shared strengths in the trial days to come. In some way, it was as if each of the people I love most dearly came one by one to my bedside where we made a silent pledge of strength and sisterhood no less scared than if it had been pledged in blood rather than love (28).” Lorde had a support system that not only comforted her but empowered her. Lorde’s work has shown how queer womxn of color have overcome obstacles that challenge the predominant white heterosexual cig-gender patriarchal society, by maintaining a fundamental foundation of solidarity. Growing up, Lorde did not submit to some of her family’s cultural and traditional norms, nor was she accepted as a Black individual growing up in NYC. Once Lorde graduated High School, she moved out of her family’s home, “And we duplicated or reached for with each other some kinds of networks because we knew that it meant survival.” (A Litany for Survival). Decades have passed, and Lorde still had her fundamental community of queer women of color through her journey battling cancer.

As Lorde was recovering from her operation, she was encouraged to wear a prosthetic breast, which, for her, reflected a patriarchal perspective on women’s bodies. After her operation, Lorde interacted with a white blonde woman from the Reach for Recovery program. The white woman had good intentions. She assured other women going through post-mastectomies, just as Lorde had, that “you are just as good as you were before because you can look exactly the same (42).” However, this mindset was constructed by the patriarchy, emphasizing what a woman’s body should look like, normalizing breasts to equate womanhood. Lorde refused to wear the prosthetic to refute the patriarchal stance for other breast cancer survivors who shared a similar mindset. She defied norms and took action in her own way. 

After her operation, the doctors, nurses, and the woman from Reach for Recovery all assumed that Lorde was straight. Lorde did not feel comfortable sharing her sexual orientation with this woman, and she withheld her questions about intimacy. Lorde writes, “I ached to talk to women about the experience I had just been through, and about what might be to come, and how we’re doing it and how they had done it. But I needed to talk with women who shared at least some of my major concerns and beliefs and visions, who shared at least some of my language. And this lady, admirable though she might be, did not” (42). Lorde yearned for a mentor or medical professional who could guide her through the process of her recovery, “Where are the models for what I’m supposed to be in this situation (29).” Having an experienced individual such as a woman, queer, black, and perhaps similar ideologies could have comforted Lorde during her battle against cancer. There were many things she wanted to say and ask the medical professionals or strangers from resource groups, but she remained silent due to the fear of judgment. In the way of rendering her voice, she tried to protect herself in the unknown territory such as the medical institution. Lorde had experienced racism in her life, and she knew medical racism would be no different. 

During her time in the hospital, Lorde experienced medical racism. According to Mclemore, “women of color experience discrimination, racism and disrespect in healthcare encounters and that they believe this affects their health…” Medical racism is one aspect of systemic racism: “racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions (Institutional Racism).” If Lorde had the opportunity to receive guidance from a black woman or a queer womxn of color, she could have felt comfortable asking her genuine questions without feeling insecure with her true identity. This issue tends to happen countless times where women of color are unable to address their issues to the medical institutions due to the possibility of getting disregarded. Medical racism prevents queer/womxn of color from receiving the same quality of health care as heterosexual white men do. This has always existed with American society, disregarding women’s physical and mental health.

 By maintaining a diary, Lorde was able to find a safe space where she could rawly vent her experiences. Her experiences enlightened her audience on the mistreatment of certain individuals being treated in hospitals, specifically the mistreatment of queer women of color. There were no safe spaces in hospital environments where queer women of color felt comfortable being out and asking their questions. This was due to their fear of judgment and possible discrimination. However, Lorde’s journals have been impactful for individuals needing guidance as someone who has gone through the stages of battling cancer. 

Throughout her life, Audre Lorde faced many challenges as a minority woman and a breast cancer survivor. In her literature, she mentions the idea of having a mentor or a role model she could reconcile with in regards to her past inexperienced self. After overcoming the obstacles life has thrown at her, Lorde discovered unorthodox methods to battle and survived the issues at hand. Thus the role model Lorde sought out when she was younger, she manifested and became a leader of guidance. The way Lorde conveys her poetry with unapologetic anger is the same fight that is rooted in her existence when she comes face to face with an obstacle, whether it be the patriarchy or breast cancer; she is a warrior.

Work Cited:

A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde. New York, NY: Third World Newsreel, 1996.

“Institutional Racism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Apr. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_racism.

Lorde, Audre. The Cancer Journals. San Francisco :Aunt Lute Books, 1997.
Mclemore, Monica R., et al. “Health Care Experiences of Pregnant, Birthing and Postnatal Women of Color at Risk for Preterm Birth.” Social Science & Medicine, vol. 201, 2018, pp. 127–135., doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.02.013.

Mclemore, Monica R., et al. “Health Care Experiences of Pregnant, Birthing and Postnatal Women of Color at Risk for Preterm Birth.” Social Science & Medicine, vol. 201, 2018, pp. 127–135., doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.02.013.

by Samantha Brigandi

Artists have always had a way of surviving the tests of time and encapsulating history. Like ancient cave paintings whispering stories of far distant ancestors, artists have the ability to connect us through time. Those who survived then created, and by doing so they taught others this art of survival. Audre Lorde, a black, lesbian, feminist, warrior poet and fellow lesbian poet Adrienne Rich worked side by side as teachers and friends to survive in an era of violence and erasure for queer women. Through poetry they captured the sentiment of isolation, the feelings of being erased from history, and the desire to survive felt by many lesbians in this era. In this blog post I will discuss the ways Lorde and Rich used poetry, writing, and teaching as methods of survival. I will discuss the impact of both women in feminist history and analyze the poetry they used to make that impact.  

            Audre Lorde was a black, feminist, lesbian, poet, warrior and teacher who grew up in New York City during the 1950s and 1960s. Lorde wrote poetry about the racism, sexism, and homophobia she experienced and later went on to write prose revolving around the same subjects. Beyond being a poet, Lorde was also a teacher at several New York universities and even took trips to Germany for teaching opportunities. She wrote poems like “A Litany for Survival,” “Power,” and “Coal” which explored the intersections of racism, sexism and homophobia that she experienced. Adrienne Rich, who also wrote and taught poetry in New York, had her own experiences with isolation as a lesbian in a deeply homophobic society. She expressed these feelings in her poem “Diving into the Wreck.” Beyond their poetry, both women recognized the importance of teaching. It was not enough just to capture these sentiments through poetry, but it was important to teach other women to imprint their experiences in history with writing. In an interview with Rich, Lorde said, “I know teaching is a survival technique. It is for me and I think it is in general; the only way real learning happens. Because I myself was learning something I needed to continue living” (Lorde, 88). That something Lorde needed to continue living could be boiled down to creating art of survival.   

            The conditions which Lorde and Rich were writing in were nothing short of crippling. Homophobia was deeply ingrained in American society and aided in the structural isolation of queer people. As Bonnie Morris writes, “it would not be until 1973 that the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality as an “illness” classification in its diagnostic manual. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, gay men and lesbians continued to be at risk for psychiatric lockup as well as jail, losing jobs, and/or child custody when courts and clinics defined gay love as sick, criminal or immoral” (Morris). To be openly gay in America resulted in being ostracized or worse. This enforced isolation had drastic and sometimes destructive consequences.  

           So, what is a “lesbian survival artist” and why were they necessary? The desire to survive was felt by lesbians far and wide during the 1950s and 1960s and the sense of isolation was devastating for many. In an interview from A Litany for Survival, the documentary about Lorde’s life, she had this to say, “we lost a lot of women to isolation, to alcohol, to suicide, there were not enough of us. And we didn’t know a lot of things.” Here she remembers the lost lives of lesbians who did not survive. The harsh reality of being a lesbian during this era was that survival did not come easy, if at all for some. Lorde understood this deep need for survival because of the destruction that came about as a result of isolation. The result of this knowledge inspired poetry that revolved around the lesbian experience in a society where they were “never meant to survive.” This poetry provided a space that previously did not exist for lesbians in the realm of poetry. Reflecting on Lorde’s lesbian love poem “Pirouette,” Adrienne Rich noted, “it’s very much the kind of lesbian love poem that people were writing in the 50s. Because there was no space for overtly lesbian love poetry, or overtly lesbian poetry of any kind” (Lorde, 1995). This absence of space for lesbian artists contributed to the deeper sense of isolation and loneliness. Lorde and Rich used poetry to bring light to this issue and in essence, provide ground for future lesbian artists to stand on.

           In Lorde’s poem “A Litany for Survival” she addresses the themes of loneliness, fear and desire for survival felt by the lesbian community. As the title of the poem makes clear, survival is at the forefront. As defined by the Oxford English dictionary “survival” means: “continuing to live after some event (spec. of the soul after death); remaining alive, living on” (OED). Lorde in this poem is expressly referring to living on in a culture that was violently intolerant of differences, specifically in terms of race, gender and sexuality. The poem uses pronouns like “we” and “us” to establish a collective whole that can invite or disorient the reader. As Lorde writes, “For those of us who live at the shoreline // standing upon the constant edges of decision // crucial and alone” (Lorde, lines 1-3). It seems almost contradictory that, when referring to a collective “us”, there can still be a pervading feeling of loneliness. The painful truth lies in that contradiction however, because the gay community was not the united front we now recognize as the “LGBTQ+ community.” Feelings of loneliness pervaded for those who, as Lorde wrote, “love in doorways coming and going // in the hours between dawns” (Lorde, lines 6-7). The doorway imagery is reminiscent of the “in the closet” phrase, Lorde here is directly referring to queer tropes. This continued use of liminal spaces (shoreline, doorways, between dawns) reflects the way lesbian women were caught between the oppressions of sexism and homophobia.

           In her poem “Diving into the Wreck,” Rich provides a vivid visual of a diver exploring the mysterious depths she has heard tales of. As she writes in her opening lines, “First having read the book of myths, and loaded the camera” (Rich, lines 1-2). The book of myths could be seen as a direct metaphor for history or society that has been lost to time, only the remnants and stories remain. The presence of the camera suggests that she is looking to record evidence, perhaps as proof of the myths. She reminds us this is a solo mission at the end of the first stanza, “not like Cousteau with his// assiduous team// aboard the sun-flooded schooner// but here alone” (Rich, lines 8-12). The transition at the end of the poem is complicated when Rich addresses a “we” in the poem. Much like in Lorde’s “Litany for Survival” it forces the reader to question who “we” refers. It becomes very clear in the final lines of the poem as she writes, “the one who find our way// back to this scene// carrying a knife, a camera// a book of myths// in which// our names do not appear” (Rich, lines 90-95). The absence of the names echoes the harsh reality of erasure from history that the LGBT community faced. It was a mutual goal of both Lorde and Rich, to establish more than just myths of a lost civilization, but to capture the soul of artists both living and dead.

           Lorde and Rich will have their names forever remembered, beyond the book of myths, and still live on as lesbian survival artists. Their work in the lesbian literary world continues to be some of the most impactful contributions since Sappho herself. Like explorers discovering new land, Lorde and Rich stamped a flag in the sand and said “we are here, we have always been here, even if we were never meant to survive” and the impact of that declaration can still be felt today. Their teachings live on, their poems continue to inspire, and their lessons of survival remain as crucial today as they did decades ago.  In conclusion, Lorde and Rich wrote ground breaking poetry and taught other women to do the same and in doing so they created a Sapphic survival guide for artists and teachers. As the final lines of “A Litany for Survival” remind us, “it is better to speak // remembering //we were never meant to survive” (Lorde, lines 45-47). These two women demonstrated how important it was to speak and how that speech can become poetry, and that poetry can become the art of survival.

Works Cited

Lorde, Audre. “A Litany for Survival.” 1978. Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147275/a-litany-for-survival. Accessed 10 April 2020.

Lorde, A., Griffin, A., Parkerson, M., Fisher, H., & Pieratos, K. (1995). A litany for survival : the life and work of Audre Lorde . New York, N.Y: Third World Newsreel.

Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider Essays and Speeches. Ten Speed Press, 2016.

Morris, Bonnie J. “History of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Social Movements.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/history.

Rich, Adrienne. “Diving into the Wreck.” 1978. Poets, poets.org/poem/diving-wreck. Accessed 10 April 2020.

“survival, n.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2020, www.oed.com/view/Entry/195104. Accessed 23 April 2020.

Throughout history there have been many important and impactful figures who have changed society and became a voice for the people. Monumental figures such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells are all names that come to mind when we think about African American movements. There are several African American women who contributed to movements towards African Americans and created a lasting impact, but tend to be overlooked, one being Audre Lorde. Lorde was an African American feminist who used her voice to speak out against the oppressions that she and those around her faced. Lorde was an activist for civil rights,women’s rights, and the rights of gays and lesbians, as well as a writer and poet. Her work mainly focused on feminism, and her identity as a black lesbian woman. Lorde sharded her experiences in order to spread awareness of the injustices and struggles that she and others faced. She did this not just through her writing, but also in her  teaching and educating. Lorde spread her story and knowledge to thousands, including people in the city of Berlin. In this blog post I will analyze works from Lorde such as “Berlin Is Hard on Colored Girls”, The Cancer Journals and Lorde’s contribution to Farbe Bekennen to show how Lorde used her injustices, oppressions, and traumas to join communities of women together.

Audre Lorde was one of the most influential figures of her time and still today, her powerful and brilliant writings and speeches defined and inspired the American feminist, lesbian, African-American, and Women of Color movements of the 1970s and 1980s. Lorde expanded her influence in 1984 when she traveled to Berlin. From 1984 to 1992 Lorde made several trips to Berlin, teaching and sharing her stories and legacy to German society (Wilder 1). While in Berlin, Lorde helped Germans to develop the Afro-German movement. Upon arriving, Lorde had noted that she should feel the racial tension that haunted the streets of the city. Lorde stated, “The city itself is very different from what I’d expected. It is lively and beautiful, but its past is never very far away, at least not for me. The silence about Jews is absolutely deafening, chilling” (Wilder 1). With World War II and the Holocaust in the not so distant past, people were fearful, especially people of color. Lorde encouraged Afro-Germans to form a community and be unapologetically themselves rather than be fearful of the injustices and oppressions they faced. While in Berlin Lorde held lectures and seminars, she believed that, “The words of these Black German women document their rejection of despair, of blindness, of silence. Once an oppression is expressed, it can be successfully fought” (Ayim 8). Using the information and stories of Afro-German women in Berlin, resulted in the creation of Farbe Bekennen. Farbe Bekennen is a book collectively written by Lorde and Afro-German women, Katharina Oguntoye, May Opitz, Dagmar. Schultz , Katharina, and Oguntoye, D. Schutz. With the help of Lorde, these women were able to come together to create a narrative to account for Germany’s African American history. The novel allowed for Afro-German women to share their stories of racism and oppression, creating a community of Afro-German women who shared the same stories of injustice. Farbe Bekennen was the first book that treated Afro-German as a national identity, following this in 1985 the Initiative Schwarze Deutsche was created. It was the first national organization of Afro-Germans still functioning as a support group for people of color in Germany today encouraging the collaboration of women and men (Hickmon). Lorde was able to help start the Afro-German identity movement and establish a community of Afro-German women that joined together to fight their oppressions. 

Not only did Lorde create communities of Afro-German women, she also documented what she experienced in Berlin. Lorde’s poem “Berlin Is Hard on Colored Girls” conveys that the racism and oppressions that women in Berlin were facing was the same racism women in America faced. It also embodies how she is able to connect and identify herself with Afro-Germans and women of color in Berlin. The poem begins with the line, “Perhaps a strange woman”(Lorde line 1). By starting the poem in this way, it is framed around this strange woman. Who is she? Why is she strange? Is she different? The poem suddenly becomes about identity and estrangement. Although the poem conveys her observations of Berlin, it is also about Lorde herself. She speaks out on her oppressions which allows others to feel that they are not alone. Lorde was able to do the same in Berlin. In doing so, she was able to help create the Afro-German identity movement. She was able to use her own struggles and connect with those around them. She created a voice for not only herself, but for those around her who needed someone such as Lorde to help right the injustices they were facing. Instead of letting the fear of World War II and racism divide them, Lorde helped Afro-German women create loving and supporting communities. 

In addition to forming communities of women in Berlin, she also formed communities of women by sharing her experiences with breast cancer. Throughout her journey with cancer, she documented her experiences in The Cancer Journals. These journals shared her experiences with her cancer but also talked about the way she was treated by doctors and nurses. The breast cancer took a toll on Lorde, she felt weakened and almost defeated. But, just as she does with every oppression, she used this to join communities of women together. By creating The Cancer Journals she was able to make others feel that they were not alone. Women who also had cancer are able to read about Lorde’s experiences and story. In the novel Lorde states, 

“I wanted to talk to a lesbian, to sit down and start from a common language, no matter how diverse. I wanted to share dyke-insight, so to speak. The call went out. Sonny and Karyn came to the house and the four of us shared our fears and our stories across age and color and place and difference and I will be forever grateful to Sonny and Karyn” (Lorde 49). 

Here, we see that Lorde and her friends are sharing their fears and stories. To Lorde this is the only way she finds comfort in her situation, it is the only way she can cope. What Lorde does here with her friends, is what she does in every situation. She tells her stories, listens to other people’s stories, and uses their struggles to join them together. She forms communities of women who all have the same oppressions, traumas, and injustices.

Lorde was an excellent writer, teacher, and poet who brought communities of women together. She was able to take injustices, traumas, oppressions, and struggles and turn them into something more, something powerful. In doing so, she was able to become a voice for numerous movements and groups of people. She used her experiences to bond with women from America to Berlin. Audre Lorde’s bonds created communities of women who were able to join together to create strength and support one another through their stories. 

Work Cited

Aiym, May. “Showing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out,” 1986. 

Farber, Paul. “I Cross Her Borders at Midnight.” Audre Lorde’s Transitional Legacies, edited by 

Stella Bolaki and Sabine Broeck, 2015, pp. 152-153.

Hickmon, Gabrielle. “What Audre Lorde Learned in Berlin About Afro-German Identity.” 

Literary Hub, 10 Dec. 2019.

Lorde, Audre. “Berlin Is Hard on Colored Girls,” 1986.

Lorde, Audre. The Cancer Journals. Aunt Lute Books. 1980. 

Wilder, Charly. “Audre Lorde’s Berlin,” The New York Times, 19 Jul. 2019.

Audre Lorde’s The Cancer Journals is a piece of literature that sparked a revolution. In 1978, feminist writer Audre Lorde discovered a lump in her right breast, which later proved to be breast cancer. Immediately after her mastectomy, doctors encouraged her to wear a prosthetic breast to help her look more like a “woman” again. However, Lorde decided not to wear a prosthetic breast in order to display her warrior strength and to be representative of a member in the community of breast cancer survivors. Audre Lorde is a woman who has published countless works that gives a voice to marginalized groups and highlight issues of race, class, gender, and identity, having people recognize them in a new fashion. Audre Lorde’s identity is a crucial factor that influences her writing, teaching, and research. Lorde defines herself as a “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” Lorde takes her identity and uses that as a platform to show her growth as a powerful woman who proudly advocates for humans like herself. Rather than keeping the insights of this journey buried in her personal journals, she decided to publish them in The Cancer Journals. Lorde’s The Cancer Journals gave readers an accessible piece of autobiography, medical research, and advice all in one as a clap back to the capitalistic society that pushes women to fit the mold they want.

During the 1970s, women with identities such as a black, lesbian, and feminist, had to stand up against a society that did not accept them. During this time, their beliefs were ignored and opposed by a patriarchal and racist society. A significant event that Lorde has survived through in her life is breast cancer. A reoccurring pairing theme that appears in Lorde’s writing is the saying “we were never meant to survive” (“A Litany for Survival”). Having a mastectomy done left Lorde with one breast. While society saw this as loss of a breast as the death of femininity, Lorde used it as an opportunity to critique these patriarchal attitudes towards women’s bodies. Medical staff challenged and shamed Lorde to insist upon her following their guidelines of “morale for the [breast surgeon’s] office.” In the hospital, Lorde experienced racism and sexism. Lorde navigated these damaging conditions by finding strength within herself to be liberated by her diagnosis. Lorde was searching for a community of people that would enlighten her as she spread her newly found knowledge based on this life experience.

In The Cancer Journals, Lorde reflected on how she noticed the doctors and nurses in the United States promote one specific way on how to deal with breast cancer- with a physical prosthesis after a necessary surgery. The journey to recovery is looked at as an opportunity to once look like a “woman” again. Lorde clarifies that “The emphasis on wearing a prosthesis is a way of avoiding having women come to terms with their own pain and loss, and therapy, with their own strength” (49). These journals are a perfect example of feminist text in how Lorde shares her liberating breast cancer journey while she didn’t let society instill her with materialistic and surface values regarding a women’s image. As Lorde viewed it, forcing women to wear a prosthetic breast was an act of sexism. Instead, Lorde used her experience to give women resources to create their own definition of healing after dealing with a massive life-defining experience such as cancer. The Cancer Journals started a movement, allowing women to be the divine feminist they can choose to be with the power of their voice. Audre gave the community of breast cancer survivors more options, helping survivors realize that cosmetic surgery is not their only option. Lorde brought awareness of how crucial mental and spiritual well-being matter, despite the cosmetic solutions presented to them.

Lorde emphasizes how the medical industry treats breast cancer as a cosmetic problem- as just the reconstruction of breasts. Lorde has concluded upon her doctor visits that there is an extreme “…emphasis upon the cosmetic after surgery reinforces this society’s stereotype of women, that we are only what we look or appear, so this is the only aspect of our existence we need to address” (57). This significant aspect of appearance angered Lorde until she was lost for words when facing nurses that told her it is best to put on the prosthesis instead of exercising the choice Lorde has as a woman and patient. While patriarchal society encouraged cancer survivors to hide their scars behind a prosthetic breast, Lorde chose not to wear one and to make her scars visible. Lorde saw how damaging the medical industry’s mentality and practices are to women around the world who deal with breast cancer too. Lorde knew that being able to create pleasure for one’s life is one of the most cherishable aspects of living. In order for women to create their own pleasure, it’s necessary that Lorde voiced her opinions and observations on how the medical industry does not give women all options available on how to continue with their journey of breast cancer. Lorde points out that medical professionals do not take into account emotions behind this life-changing news for a patient, and want to cover up the signs of illness rather than focus on recovering a patient with full mental health.

In many ways, Lorde harnesses the power her voice has and published a work that was controversial to the public, but revolutionary for women of all identities. Lorde embodies a feminist perspective: through her voicing her thoughts on paper and through platforms like her annual literary award for poetry, she can give back to communities that do not have all the freedom necessary to live the most pleasurable life. The Cancer Journals is a work of art in how it allows people living with breast cancer not further to be victims of a patriarchal, capitalistic society by giving readers the tools to stand up for themselves. Lorde exposes the medical field withholding knowledge from patients to women who have not received an explanation on all further diagnosis, treatments, procedures, and recovery options because it is a form of victimization on the medical professionals’ side. A loss of power, in which the just situation should have the ability to make an informed decision. Lorde writes, “For as we open ourselves more and more to the genuine conditions of our lives, women become less and less willing to tolerate those conditions unaltered, or to passively accept external and destructive controls over our lives and our identities” (58). Lorde gave the gift of accessibility of information on medical documents that were too complex for a typical citizen who hasn’t studied for their Ph.D., or not translated in the same language a woman needs when trying to study for the best option available for her breast cancer treatment. Lorde wanted to give all women the sense of empowerment by giving them the knowledge to not fall into the trap of forcing consumerism upon a patient.

One of Lorde’s goals for publishing her experience is for survivors to read this and think about how a community can be a saving force and a revolutionary one too. Society does not make it acceptable for women to have one breast after the mastectomy, continually telling them to cover up the scars so people could not tell what they have gone through. Lorde works to reverse these non-printed rules with The Cancer Journals by telling readers that the only option is not the one doctors provide, and that with scars comes courageous strength to face society as a breast cancer survivor.

In The Cancer Journals, Lorde gives her readers the tools to be their own advocate because of institutional sexism and racism involved. The emphasis is placed on the woman’s appearance and how treating cancer by a mastectomy ruins a women’s appearance and sexual appeal. Lorde exposes how even the nurses force so much pressure on women to wear the prosthetic breasts to look “normal” and shame you from being proud of being a survivor. Lorde explains, “By accepting the mask of prosthesis, one-breasted women proclaim ourselves as insufficient dependent upon pretense. We reinforce our own isolation and invisibility from each other, as well as the false complacency of a society which would rather not face the results of its own insanities” (61). What is discouraged in society is an internal reflective analysis of life around an individual, and this inner critical thinking could start a feminist revolution if all women noticed the pattern that Lorde lays out in her work. Lorde focuses on the true feelings of women, and what should empower them to be the best feminist activist for themselves and others. The Cancer Journals not only sparked a revolution on how feminist can rethink what it means to be a woman facing breast cancer in America, but played a part in exposing the medical industry on how it treats differences in identity so people can reject the surface level healing provided, and continue advocating for the best options available.

Works Cited

Lorde, Audre. The Cancer Journals. , 1980. Print.

“A Litany for Survival”: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde. New York, NY: Third World Newsreel, 1996.