Breast cancer awareness, not greed
In case you needed reminding, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Basically, it's 31 days of pink.
It seems great on the surface. Aside from the fact that it's a huge gimmick that contributes to cancer, objectification of women and capitalism.
I will preface this piece by saying that I am all for being concerned about breast cancer, especially since one in eight women will experience it in her lifetime. But the problem is the way we are being made "aware" of breast cancer. Being aware is not nearly the same as being active.
You can buy any product with a pink ribbon to "support breast cancer awareness," but these purchases alone are hardly meaningful. Breast cancer has been commercialized from a serious disease into a profitable product. My biggest problem here is that it might seem like large corporations are actually concerned about the cause, but it all comes down to money. It's great for a profit, great for public relations. But not so great for finding a cure.
If companies cared more about people and less about selling products, they would just donate money to breast cancer research. That's clearly not the case.
The thing that really gets me is that breast cancer awareness was originally started by a group of feminist activists who were fed up with not being able to talk about breasts. Funding was extremely limited, care for breast cancer patients was hardly available and many women did not have proper access to preventative care, much less treatment.
It took social change for breast cancer awareness to even be on most people's radars. Now, it's contributing directly to capitalism, something I think those feminist activists would be less-than-thrilled with. Pink ribbons were originally worn by survivors to get rid of the stigma that you had to be quiet about (gasp!) breasts. They then started being worn by supporters of survivors and are now being bought by companies to use for profit.
On top of all of this, popular campaigns for breast cancer awareness objectify and dehumanize survivors. Campaigns like 'save the tata's' and 'I heart boobies' turn people into breasts and not human beings. In case you didn't know, sometimes people with breast cancer have to get one or both breasts removed in order to save their life. It becomes less about people dying and more about there being less boobs to look at.
The bottom line is: it's extremely important to be concerned about breast cancer. If that's something important to you, it's time to do some research on where your money is going. Instead of buying that pink nail polish or water bottle, donate to actual research. Donate to groups that may not receive adequate care, like women of color and lower-class women.
Don't give yourself a pat on the back for 'saving the ta-ta's or contributing to the funds of mega-corporations. Do your research and donate your time and money to something that's worthwhile for people actually going through breast cancer.
Good doers don't pat themselves on the back anyways.
