So, you can imagine my extreme distain for the stunt pulled on The Talk a little over a year ago when they made fun of Siobhan Fletcher, a 36-year-old from Leek, Staffordshire, who was diagnosed with PCOS and decided to use a symptom of PCOS hirsutism to raise awareness for men's cancers.
Many women are not part of the celebrity elite, we do not have personal assistants, hair dressers, make up artists or trainers to help us overcome and/or hide our imperfections, instead we are left to battle perceptions and life on our own and try to overcome adversity the best we can.
Then we have those few brave women who are wiling to stand out to use those adversities to empower others with strength, knowledge and compassion, how is that something to make fun of?
Here is Siobhans Story...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2241512/Siobhan-Fletcher-Getting-root-taboo-female-condition.html
CBS's daytime talk show features a panel of well-known news and entertainment personalities having "The Talk" about an array of topics. Instead of taking the actions of Siobhan as courageous and inspiring, they turned it into a farce!
On Novemeber 30, 2012 the women of "The Talk" showed up on television wearing fake beards and made fun of Siobhan who decided to grow out her facial hair for Movember in support of Cancer.. They made comments about her looking like Larry the Cable Guy and even commented "I can't even understand how a woman can grow a beard..."
For every step we take towards awareness, when people of influence allow people to think it is ok to publicly ridicule others they are in essence affecting and compounding the emotional impact of those who struggle with the symptoms of a syndrome like PCOS on a daily basis. By modeling this type of behavior on this segment we are telling people it is ok to make fun of others!
There has never been a public apology, recant or even the least bit of remorse with regards to this but, I guess we should thank them in a sense because it now gives people like me the opportunity to educate properly about the cause and effects of the syndrome so with that.....
The most common signs and symptoms of PCOS are:
- Irregular or no menstrual periods
- Problems getting pregnant - this could be because there is no ovulation, or it is irregular
- Hirsutism - excessive hair growth, usually on the buttocks, back, chest or face
- Hair loss (from the head)
- Acne
- Pelvic pain
- Patches of dark skin at the back of the neck, possibly some other areas of the body. This is caused by too much insulin.
The Androgen Excess and PCOS SOciety has a wonderful overview of what PCOS and PCOS Symptoms are:
http://www.ae-society.org/poly_syndrome
In closing, we all have accountability for how we act and what we say. However, celebrities need to take even greater responsibility for their positions as role models, sorry folks comes with the job! Celebrities are looked up to by younger generations and I for one do not want my children learning it is ok to make fun of others under any circumstance!
As a woman living with PCOS or polycystic ovary syndrome and advocating for the awareness of PCOS, The cost of inadequacies in awareness due to the ignorance of others comes at the expense of the women and girls with PCOS who languish needlessly, afraid to speak out about their symptoms and personal pain because as in the case of Siobhan being made fun of, they are afraid of being set apart, of being made to feel they are not normal due to something they can not control, jeopardizing their health while the healthcare system and public unfairly remains uneducated and ill-equipped to deal with the complex needs of this population!
I hope you will join me in the Fight for PCOS Awareness by helping the millions of women with PCOS one TWEET at a time by following me @jerzgurlie
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