The Pink Ribbon Lie

As you probably already know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. What you might not realize is how its a complete crock of shit. I am concerned about breast cancer. I'm from Long Island where is there one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the country. Several women in my family have developed it within the last two years. But there are so many other types of cancer that we don't pay as much attention to: lung, liver, skin, ovarian, testicular, colon...can anyone name the ribbon color for these cancers? The truth is that companies focus on breast cancer because 1) Pink is a cute color that makes very attractive novelty, limited-time products. 2) Women have lots of money to buy these things and are concerned about getting breast cancer themselves. 3) Breast cancer gives them license to talk about breasts in their advertising and pretend that they're helping a cause. Breast cancer is considered a sexy disease by these corporations. Where's the sex appeal in talking about pancreatic cancer? But the money "raised" by selling pink products does as much for curing breast cancer as buying a yellow "support-our-troops" magnet for your car actually helps to support troops.

We're no closer to having a cure now than 5 years ago- unless you're super rich (I have theories about celebrities and their rate of cancer survival). So where is this money going? It's going back into teddy bears, t-shirts, baseball caps and travel mugs with pink ribbons all over it. And I feel bad because the people who buy this crap actually believe that they are doing good and are somehow convinced that any tragedy was ever rectified by SHOPPING (just like anyone buying "red" products).

If you really want to do something constructive- tell women you know about the statically risks of developing breast cancer, encourage women you know over 45 to get regular screening and ALL woman should learn to give themselves a breast exam. Learn how to help prevent development. You should take care of yourself, eat healthy, exercise and love your body. But don't buy into the fad notion of pink ribbon dreams. If companies really wanted to help women's health issues, they'd donate the money themselves instead of making you pay for it. And if you'd like to actually donate: take the direct route. Read more: http://www.blogdoctor.me/2007/02/expandable-post-summaries.html#ixzz1Ygp5vxLJ