One of the biggest news stories of the past few days is perhaps Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie's public announcement of her decision to have a preventive double mastectomy because of a faulty gene that renders her susceptible to breast cancer. The 37-year-old star is also considering having her ovaries removed.

The news generated a lot of attention and discussion about breast cancer awareness, genetic testing and whether to have preventive mastectomies or not. Most people commend Jolie's brave decision to have the procedure, and to talk about it in public.

Now, medical decisions aside, what is missing, perhaps a bit conspicuously, is how dramatic changes in aesthetics affect the average woman.

Of course, when it's cancer on the line, I doubt anyone could be so insensitive as to comment on the "less important" part of the story: the appearance. My initial reaction to the story, besides disbelief, was: so her breasts are gone now?

The bottom line is, Jolie will still look pretty much the same as before. After having her breast tissue removed, the actress had multiple surgeries that saved her nipple and reconstructed her breasts with teardrop-shaped implants plus sheets of cadaver skin that could give her breasts a more natural look. 

Not that there's anything wrong with having breast reconstructive surgeries. Just like a burn patient receives facial reconstructive surgeries, there's absolutely nothing objectionable to it. But reconstructive surgery isn't always an option for breast cancer patients.

Photographer David Jay created The SCAR Project, a series of photos of young breast cancer survivors. These raw, striking portraits depict women who had one or both of their breasts removed, or had their nipples removed as well.

The photographer described in a radio program the letters he received from women of all ages who had undergone breast cancer surgeries. Many told the photographer that ever since they had their breasts removed, they've never been naked in front of their spouses or their children; some of them have not even looked at themselves naked in front of the mirror because they felt ugly, unlovable and ashamed. They thanked the photographer for the photos that show the brutal and overlooked truth about breast cancer and for showing these women how beautiful they really are.

Jolie wrote in her article for the New York Times that she doesn't "feel any less of a woman" and that she feels "empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity."

There's no denying Jolie's courage and strength. She kept on working during the months when she was going through surgery. But let's not forget that in a society where women's breasts, and the rest of the female body, are often the object of critique and their size and shape judged and altered, that breast cancer is a traumatic event both physically and mentally. Such surgeries are very likely going to leave many women feeling like "less of a woman." And that's an important part of the story that's missing from the whole Jolie hype.