Abstract

This study investigates the emotional, social, and economic difficulties encountered by Egyptian women from middle- to working-class origins after a breast cancer diagnosis. Despite being a worldwide health concern, local cultural, institutional, and economic circumstances have a significant impact on the lived consequences of breast cancer. Women's post-diagnosis experiences in Egypt are greatly exacerbated by deeply ingrained gender stereotypes, stigma associated with cancer, and systemic injustices in the healthcare system. This research emphasizes women's situated knowledge and views their bodily experiences as crucial sources of insight into larger societal power relations. It is based on feminist perspective theory, especially the work of Sandra Harding and Nancy Hartsock. In order to investigate how intersecting patterns of gender, class, and cultural expectations impact emotional distress, access to care, and social support, the study employs an experiential qualitative methodology that highlights women's own narratives. Results show that loneliness, anxiety, low self-esteem, and emotional silence are common among women and are frequently made worse by insufficient support systems and unequal access to treatment. These difficulties are not just personal or psychological; rather, they are ingrained in patriarchal social relationships and class-based limitations that restrict women's autonomy and visibility in both family and medical contexts. The study also emphasizes women's coping mechanisms and resilience as common kinds of resistance that emerged in limited situations. By highlighting the critical need for culturally sensitive, gender-responsive, and psychosocial support frameworks that address women's lived realities outside of the clinical setting, this research advances feminist scholarship, community-based healthcare approaches, and public health policy by going beyond a purely biomedical understanding of breast cancer.

School

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department

Cynthia Nelson Institute for Gender and Women's Studies

Degree Name

MA in Gender & Women's Studies

Graduation Date

Fall 2-15-2026

Submission Date

1-22-2026

First Advisor

Helen Rizzo

Committee Member 1

Dina Makram-Ebeid

Committee Member 2

Lameese Eldesouky

Extent

110p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Approval has been obtained for this item

Disclosure of AI Use

Thesis editing and/or reviewing; Translation

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