Farrah Fawcett’s legacy

One of the more subtle indicators of ‘we know we’re getting older’ is when famous people we once idolised, unexpectedly go ‘toes up’ – Jacko being the latest. Whether you liked his music or not – you have to admit nobody else moved quite like him on stage.

Farrah Fawcett’s recent death was a considerably sadder affair due to the ignominious reason. But was it really? Her doctor Dr. Lawrence Piro said before her funeral; “She knew that she had the kind of anal cancer that she wasn’t going to ultimately overcome, and decided to leave as much of a legacy of awareness as she possibly could”.

Man did she ever do that!

Who could forget Farrah Fawcett (once married to the six million dollar man Lee Majors). One photo of her in a red swimsuit in the 70′s, was the top-selling pinup of all time. Now the women whose smile and tufted hair once dominated TV screens all over the world has left an unexpected legacy. By allowing a documentary to be made of her final struggle against the disease, she has de-stigmatised this degrading and formerly taboo affliction.

Breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer were all once unmentionable diseases that have now become much more easily discussed. This is due at least in part to the public disclosures various celebrities have made over the last few decades. The ignorant ‘herd mentality’ of human society is certainly a tough thing to change, but effective decimation of this ugly monster is in fact easily achieved by respected persons of celebrity status. Pictures of Princess Diana touching HIV patients come readily to mind.

Often commonly mistaken for hemorrhoids, anal cancer is rare. According to American Cancer Society statistics only about 5000 diagnose and 700 deaths due to anal cancer occur each year in the United States. Because the anus is associated not only with defecation but also a taboo form of sex, we mostly tend to associate this disease with gay men who have anal sex and who are probably already infected with HIV anyway.

Not so. In fact more than half those diagnosed each year are women – a fact now more common knowledge thanks to Farrah’s life and death. Sometimes we don’t like the roles we are picked to fill, but in this case at least, I think it was a perfect match. It took a uniquely beautiful women to remove this last bastion of remaining medical stigma. Something noble and of lasting value to countless others has definitely been achieved.

Thank you Farrah for a job well done!

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