He may wear pink on Wednesday, but on Tuesday Jonathan Bennett went for a mammogram.
The ‘Mean Girls’ star took to Instagram in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month to document his breast exam at the Shin Imaging Center in Los Angeles.
Bennett filmed him squeezing the tissue above each chest through a huge machine to create X-rays that a radiologist then analyzed and checked for abnormalities.
“October is #breastcancermonth and I’m showing you what a mammogram looks like for me,” the 41-year-old actor captioned the video.
Bennett told his followers that his husband, Jaymes Vaughan – whom he married in March in Mexico – “was afraid of cancer a few years ago”, explaining that the disease runs in both their families.
That’s why “screenings are important to us,” Bennett shared.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a mammogram is currently the best method of detecting breast cancer early — when it’s easier to treat and before it occurs enough to cause symptoms.
The CDC reports that regular mammograms may lower the risk of dying from breast cancer, which affects both women and men.
In fact, Cancer.org says that “mammography is often more accurate in men than women because men don’t have dense breasts or other common breast changes that can interfere with the test.”
Still, the exam isn’t offered to men by default, so Bennett encouraged his followers to talk to their doctors about what’s right for them.
“Proud of you!” his “Mean Girls” co-star Daniel Franzese responded to the post, while actress Melissa Joan Hart thanked Bennett “for posting this for us ladies who don’t like going topless on insta.”
Like many others, Kandi Burruss, the star of “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” admitted she’s “never seen a male breast exam” and called it “awesome!”
Bennett partners with Wicked Good Cupcakes to raise money for the Ellie Fund, a nonprofit that provides essential services to breast cancer patients.