“Have you heard of Movember?” I ask Sandy.
At the end of a long ride on the bus, I wait until everybody gets off the bus and approach the bus driver. Sandy is a school bus driver who has been working in the city for over 13 years. I explain to Sandy that Mo Bros and Mo Sistas raise money and awareness for prostate cancer and men’s health.
I tell her that I’m trying to find spaces for women to actively participate in Movember. Sandy suggests sticking on a fake moustache. “Well, now that you mention it…” I say. She willingly picks out a long trucker Mo and we snap a few shots.
After a few laughs, she opens up and tells me a male bus driver she worked with for many years suffered with prostate cancer. The other bus drivers worked as a team to cover shifts. He used to talked about his cancer treatments, and Sandy expressed that MEN SHOULDN’T BE ASHAMED TO TALK about cancer. The same way as women now are (generally) not ashamed to talk about their breast cancer. However, it should be noted that male breast cancer is still veiled in secrecy.
Sandy opened up in a powerful and emotional conversation to explain her sister-in-law died of breast cancer. Small tears rolled down her face. A fake Mo opened up a conversation to something much larger. Bigger than prostate cancer, bigger than men’s health – human health…
Jenna Jacobson 