“Mavele”: Do diagnóstico do cancro de mama à (re)construção da vida quotidiana das mulheres mastectomizadas: Um estudo de caso no Hospital Central de Maputo

Abstract

The present work deals with the practices of mastectomized women in daily life, with the aim of understanding the way in which these women rebuild themselves after breast removal, in the spaces that composes their daily lives. Spaces such as the street, the market, workplaces and home. The passage through this disease, in some cultures, is considered a compromising factor to the woman's body image, and it puts in question her capacity in the fulfillment of certain social roles, mainly related to fertility, sexuality and the care of the home. It is within this scope that we seek to understand how these women seek to rebuild themselves in their everyday life towards such identified constraints. From a qualitative approach, we proceed with data collection using a focused interview. As a theoretical reference, we used the Social Construction of Reality theory of Luckmann and Berger (1978), in order to understand how this process of reconstruction of daily life is performed by the woman after the removal of the breast. As results of the research, it was possible to identify four categories of analysis: the mastectomized woman and the body image; The mastectomized woman in the family; The mastectomized woman in public spaces; The mastectomized woman in her marital relationship. We note that most women seek to manipulate their image according to the contexts inserted. We verified that most women have a tendency to hide the physical consequences of the disease in public places, by using underwear, like bra with wadding, in order to be ``accepted ́ ́ in the inserted groups. In the family environment, most women try not to hide their new condition. There is the search for acceptance of her body as normal, this is, a body that does not limit or reduces on the existence of the breast for the exercise of social roles such as mother, housewife and spouse. Regarding the intimacy we notice that, there is an investment of new tactics of seduction and pleasure, as a mean of overcoming and guaranteeing the continuity of the sexual life.