Melissa Etheridge Pours Cold Water On Angelina Jolie’s Mastectomy

Rocker Melissa Etheridge doesn’t think that Angelina Jolie’s surprise preventative double mastectomy was terribly brave.

Angelina Jolie was lauded earlier this year after revealing that she had opted for a preventative double mastectomy after learning that she carried a gene that increased her chances of developing breast cancer.

Etheridge, herself a breast cancer survivor, says that she feels “a little differently” about the positive reception Jolie has gotten. While she didn’t exactly criticize Jolie’s decision, she seemed to suggest that the actress acted prematurely.

“I have that gene mutation too, and it’s not something I would believe in for myself. I wouldn’t call it the brave choice,” Etheridge candidly said in an interview. “I actually think it’s the most fearful choice you can make when confronting anything with cancer.”

Etheridge continued, saying that she believes cancer “comes from inside you,” the “environment of your body” and that stress is the thing that determines whether the rogue gene turns into cancer or not.

She said:

“Plenty of people have the gene mutation and everything but it never comes to cancer, so I would say to anybody faced with that — that choice is way down the line on the spectrum of what you can do, and to really consider the advancements we’ve made in things like nutrition and stress levels.

“I’ve been cancer free for nine years now and looking back, I completely understand why I got cancer. There was so much acidity in everything. I really encourage people to go a lot longer and further before coming to that conclusion.”

What do you think? Was Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy a brave choice, or do you agree with Melissa Etheridge?

[Image via: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock]