A couple weeks ago I drove by PF
Changs to see that their huge horse sculptures were pink. Aside from the
fact that I'm still trying to figure out how they got them pink without
damaging the sculptures, the second thought that entered my mind was "ugh,
it's October again". There will be pink football jerseys, some
inappropriate slogans about "ta-ta's" on t-shirts, and stores asking
for money so they can make a huge donation to whatever breast cancer society
they choose. I really can’t stand
it.
You may be thinking by now that I'm
heartless, but let me begin by saying that I've dealt with cancer in my family
on a pretty direct level, including my mom's cancer diagnosis...twice, one
being breast cancer, and I've also heard that scary word mentioned by two
doctors as a possibility for myself. I hope with all my heart that
someday there's a cure.
Why is it then that I can't stand
pink month? What bothers me is that everyone is gung-ho about cancer
awareness, particularly breast cancer, during October but it's so
commercialized and over-the top. I also think there's something about
breasts that makes people want to talk about it more. It's more fun to
talk about saving the boobies than rectal cancer, but in the end all cancer is
cancer, right? It’s a bit
confusing that women are actually objectified during many “awareness campaigns”
in a way that’s become socially acceptable in this supposed celebration of
their strength and survival.
One of the real issues for me is that
once someone actually has cancer of any kind, those people that were all about
wearing pink and donating their $1 at the grocery store are nowhere to be
found. They don't deliver food, they don't call or stop over, and some of
them seem to have dropped off the face of the earth. That's not true of
everyone but there was a very, very, very small group of friends who were there
for me when I was terrified about my mom's breast cancer diagnosis, and I
wasn’t even the one with the cancer.
Real cancer makes people uncomfortable. The few people that were
there asked what they could do, checked in on how I was, and asked about my mom
and how she was feeling. They didn't wear bright t-shirts that publicized
their actions but they remained a quiet, supportive presence.
"Pink" month is marketed as
a time to celebrate survivors and raise awareness and money for research,
however is it really doing that? So many people flaunt their pink for
breast cancer but do they really take the time to do their monthly breast exam
at home, get a yearly mammogram, or take steps to reduce other risk factors
such as adjusting diet or adding exercise? When you donate your $1 or
purchase a pink product, do you really know where that money is going?
Sometimes it is in fact going to a great organization that is funneling that
money into research, awareness, preventative care for women, etc., but other
times it's just going to pay for that pink water bottle made with BPA which
ironically has been linked to cancer.
The month is about fighting breast cancer and the strong
survivors, but it can be painful for people whose friends and family members
aren't survivors. Not everyone survives and that doesn’t mean that they
didn’t fight, that they didn’t deserve to be well.
Prevention and research is great, but sometimes we
Americans get so sucked into the commercialism of it all that we don’t realize
that what we’re doing is hypocritical or that we’re overlooking the real issues
and solutions.
We’re almost to the end of “pink” month and I’m not quite
sure if I’m more excited to stop seeing shirts about saving the ta-ta’s or the
end of the election signs cluttering every corner. But, that’s a topic for another day.
