“Think before you Pink.”
I was hoping this image would come up on my dash and I could reblog it from someone with more expertise, but I haven’t seen it outside of facebook yet.
Some things to keep in mind:
- Make awareness about the individual and their struggles with cancer, NOT about “boobies” and “saving breasts.” Many breast cancer survivors DO lose their breasts and positing awareness as a movement to “save their breasts” diminishes our need to focus on supporting the people. Whether or not they chose/need to undergo a mastectomy is not really your business or concern.
“Saying that we should work to cure this disease because it threatens breasts is really upsetting. For starters, it suggests that women are worth saving because they’re attached to breasts, rather than the other way around. But worse, it tells any woman who’s had a life-saving mastectomy that she’s given up the thing that made people care about her survival. What a punch in the stomach.” -Randal Munroe, of XKCD
- Think twice about supporting companies that seem more concerned about using Breast Cancer Awareness and its ever-increasing popularity to sell their product, rather than concerned about actually supporting and assisting those struggling/those who will battle with breast cancer/with finding a cure
- For alternative organizations to support, Kate Madonna Hindes recommends Breast Cancer Action. “They are INCREDIBLE and do work that focuses ALL on prevention.”
For further info:The Trouble with Pink (Kate Madonna Hindes)Unraveling the Ribbon on Bitch MagazineIf I see one more “Save the Ta-Tas” bumper sticker, I will scream.
One of the things that upsets me about the pinkwashing of the world sometimes is that people often forget about other cancers because they’re not as glamorous. This isn’t to say that breast cancer isn’t awful, devastating, or just as bad as any other type of cancer - but it seems that people are quick to ignore illnesses that aren’t tied up with a pretty pink ribbon.
Fuck cancer. Full stop.