This entry was posted in internet/technology and tagged awareness, breast cancer, cancer, facebook, health, internet, memes, research, women by Miri. Bookmark the permalink.
Oh thank goodness you wrote this. Breast cancer "awareness" statuses annoy me to no end.
Thank you. I am so tired of "Breast Cancer Awareness" emphasis being placed on bras, boobies, and "ta-tas". Yes, it is cancer of the breast, but it is first and foremost cancer. It is devastating to the patient and to the families and loved ones of that person. I understand that people are trying to be supportive and help in anyway they can, but you're right, the support should be emphasized via things like cancer prevention and volunteering.
Excellent post, Miriam! I get very annoyed at the requests to share the color of my bra or the location of my purse for exactly the reasons you've outlined: they don't do anything to actually bring awareness. Moreover, they often make people think that they've "done something" and therefore they don't need to do anything else to raise awareness. But stupid FB updates aren't action. They aren't enough. Breast cancer is not the number one killer of women (that's heart disease — thus the Red Dress Campaign). But most every one of us knows someone affected, whether a relative, friend, colleague or acquaintance. And as Jewish women, we are especially susceptible to breast cancer because of the high occurrence of the BRCA gene among specifically Ashkenazi Jewish women (it increases one's lifetime risk of breast cancer to 80% and risk of ovarian cancer to 45%).
Perhaps I've been reading too many 'radfem' blogs but I really was under the impression that Susan G Komen foundation is a notorious pinkwasher.
Heh. One thing that radical feminists are right about is that, if you dig deep enough, you're going to find problems with basically everything.
I'm quite sure that SGK is an imperfect organization. If I were to decide to donate to breast cancer research, I would research it much more thoroughly. However, I am aware that any organization needs to use at least part of its funds for administrative costs and to pay salaries, and since I'm not a business owner, it's not really my place to presume how high those expenses ought to be.
Personally, if I were to donate to breast cancer research, I would do it through local organizations, or perhaps through donating to individuals who need help covering expenses.
As you say, men can get breast cancer too. What's more, just because men don't get breast cancer as much as women doesn't mean they don't need to be aware. I can assume that most men know at least one woman and that they would want to help the women they're close to if they do have breast cancer.
Exactly. I can just imagine how a man who's close with a woman battling breast cancer would feel upon seeing this.
Just imagine if the LGBT community started a meme like this to bring "awareness" to the problem of bullying and suicide, except they made it secretive and refused to tell straight people what it's actually about. How about all the straight allies who've watched their friends and family struggle? How about the straight people who are "presumed" to be gay and bullied for that?
Exclusion is basically never a good thing when it comes to promoting a cause.
I love this article and have posted it twice on Facebook.
Anything that makes people aware is a good thing!