A 12-year old girl with a rare breast condition reveals society’s true ailment
Once again, the misogynistic impact of the male gaze caused the oppression of a promising underage girl with a rare breast condition.
A 12-year old girl with a rare breast condition reveals society’s true ailment
The case of Yumi and her breast condition
Yumi is a 12-year old girl from Puerto Princesa, Palawan. She was featured on the show Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho because of one characteristic that should never be attributed to a girl her age: her overgrown breasts.
Yumi suffers from gigantomastia, a rare condition that causes severe overgrowth of breast tissues. Patients with this ailment experience breast and back pain, posture problems, and infections. These symptoms associated with breast hypertrophy are physically debilitating if left untreated.
Why this is a problem that concerns all of us
Yumi cannot experience a normal childhood due to her large breasts. Other kids shun her. She cannot normally interact due to the heavy weight on her chest- both literally and metaphorically.
Others hypersexualize her despite being a 12-year old. She experiences catcalling, sexual harassment, and sexual voyeurism regularly. The male gaze has once again permeated the way we look at women’s bodies.
Our patriarchal society has horrifyingly objectified a young girl’s body just because of the size of her breasts. We have a system that continually fails women. We are still not progressive as a society, and Yumi’s case is another tragic testament to that. 12-year old girls like her should not be self-conscious of their bodies.
Because of the standards that we set against women, Yumi is brought to feel ashamed of how she looks.
It is time to stop inflicting our ancient views on women and their bodies. A woman’s brand and worth will NEVER be based on her body. We owe this respect to Yumi and others her age who feel embarrassed of the way they are. Let’s hope that through the media awareness of this ailment, Yumi gets the resources to pay for her treatment and medical expenses.
This Pride Month, it is time we call for the abolishment of any prejudice, standard, and discrimination against all GENDERS and sex. We CAN be better than this.
Photo credits to Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho (One at Heart, Jessica Soho) Facebook Account
