So it’s October and you know what that means!:
That’s right, it’s Annual Pay Attention to Breasts in a Non-sexual Way Month! Now, before I get cynical, let me just state that I’m not in favor of breast cancer and in fact I think the advances in treatment and awareness over the past 20 years or so are truly amazing. But I have some problems with the whole breast cancer pink everything awareness campaign.
First of all, aren’t we aware? Seriously, who doesn’t know about breast cancer? Is there any man, let alone woman, who doesn’t know that breast cancer exists? And the awareness has worked. In 2006, statistics showed that the chances of surviving breast cancer were up 50% since 1999 and the article reporting this fact states as the first reason “Part of this reason is that there is more breast cancer awareness.” So that’s wonderful, but the truth is, breast cancer is the seventh cause of death among women. In 2005, breast cancer caused 41,116 deaths and the number one cause, diseases of the heart, caused 329,238. That’s five times as many deaths! Breast cancer isn’t even the leading cancer death (it comes in second after lung cancer). The CDC has a nice chart of the top ten causes of death among women, which clearly shows how far down the list breast cancer is.
So there’s a ton of time and money being pumped into something that isn’t really necessary. Of course it’s a tragedy for a woman to suffer from breast cancer, but at this point pink ribbons and heart wrenching stories in women’s magazines aren’t really adding anything.
Second, I can’t help feeling that most of this “pink for the cure” is tokenism and image. How much money is actually donated to breast cancer research from all the walks and ribbons and pink products we’re all urged to buy? I tried to find out and couldn’t, not overall. But for example, the NFL is donating $14,000 to the Susan G. Komen society. $14,000 is a lot of money for you and me, but for the NFL? It’s the equivalent of the spare change you find in the couch. And in exchange for the spare change, the NFL gets a huge publicity boost. The teams wear pink arm bands and sneakers, and suddenly we all forget just how many NFL players have been convicted of spousal abuse and/or rape.
In the same way, companies across the board jump onto the pink bandwagon: a concerned citizen can buy not just ribbons and rubber bracelets, but jewelry, M&Ms, umbrellas, stand mixers, cars, makeup, makeup containers, and of course, lots and lots of clothing. But as the advocacy group Think Before You Pink points out, there is no national database or oversight to make sure that any of the donation claims are upheld.
More importantly, and I feel I shouldn’t have to say this, and yet I do…consumerism does not cure disease. For those people who are personally motivated to help solve breast cancer, advocacy, volunteering or direct donation seem like obvious ways to actually make a difference. Buying a necklace with a ribbon made out of garnets or a t-shirt seems, on the other hand, like a way to salve an uneasy conscience and pretend to make a difference.
So I will not be buying anything pink this October or any other. And I’d suggest you don’t either.
Professor Bean
Professor Moss
I agree with all of your arguments, however as a two time survivor and activist I have taken a different tack. I don’t object to your response, but hope you might do me the honor of reading my thoughts on the subject.
ARE YOU SICK OF PINK YET?
http://stayinthepink-jamie.blogspot.com/
Cordially,
Jamie Inman
Professor Moss,
Great post! Thank you so much for mentioning Breast Cancer Action’s Think Before You Pink Campaign! Like we say here, if shopping could cure breast cancer, it would be cured a long time ago. Please stay up to date with the work of Breast Cancer Action and continue to help us challenge assumptions and inspire change.
Breast Cancer Action
bcaction.org
thinkbeforeyoupink.org
milkingcancer.org
What the Cluck? Tell KFC and Susan G. Komen for the Cure to stop pinkwashing!
With their “Buckets for the Cure” campaign, KFC and Susan G. Komen for the Cure are telling us to buy buckets of unhealthy food to cure a disease that kills women. When a company purports to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribboned product, but manufactures products that are linked to the disease, we call that pinkwashing. Make no mistake–every pink bucket purchase will do more to benefit KFC’s bottom line than it will to cure breast cancer. Join us in telling KFC and Susan G. Komen for the Cure to rethink this pinkwashing partnership.
Breast Cancer Action
bcaction.org
It’s not helping cure cancer at this point, AND other worthy causes are getting shortchanged. cystic fibrosis is more fatal than cancer. That is, CF dOES result in death unless you die early of something else. cancer is sometimes survivable.