“I Feel Different”: Ovarian Cancer and Sexual Self-Concept

Ovarian cancer and its treatments affect women's sexuality and sexual health. The disease affects a core element of womanhood and femininity—the ovaries. Scholars and others argue that the position of the ovaries in the interior of the female body and the prognosis of the disease contribute to limited public awareness. In the present study the author used a feminist lens to conduct interviews and focus-group discussions with 28 women affected with ovarian cancer. The results showed that ovarian cancer and its treatments affect women's understanding of their sexual self-concept. Their understanding is also influenced by life conditions at the time of diagnosis, the treatment regimen, and factors such as age and level of social support. Thus sexual self-concept in the context of ovarian cancer needs to be reconceptualized to account for how the disease presents itself.