October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month across the nation -- a month-long campaign that is dedicated to raise awareness about the disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, 14 percent of all cancer cases in 2015 were breast cancer, with 231,840 cases in the year. The goal of the campaign seems to have had an impact, emphasizing that women have to take proper steps to prevent breast cancer and properly treat it. Since 1990, the mortality rate of breast cancer has gone down by 34 percent.
As awareness continues to rise, the word about the cause spreads to larger stages. In recent years, many sports teams and organizations have embraced the movement, promoting breast cancer awareness games, uniforms, and merchandise in order to raise money for breast cancer research, from high school to professional leagues. For at least a game or a portion of a season, competing teams are united in a great cause.
Yet, one problem always seems to come up. The color of National Breast Cancer Awareness is pink.
Seriously, people still will find a way to raise hell over the fact that athletes wear pink during games.
During the month of October, the NFL will wear the color pink for the entire month. Wristbands, gloves, and hats will all be pink. Even the coin tossed at the beginning of the game will have some pink on it. While it is an organic trend that has been going on for a few years now, many fans, mostly men, seem to be growing sour on the idea.
But why? What's so wrong with wearing pink during the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month? There are three main issues to why fans get weird when pink enters the color wheel in sports.
1. It Represents a Feminist Takeover In Sports
I'm no feminist, and I'm objective enough to say this is not a feminist plan. Women are naturally becoming increasingly prominent in sports. In a time when Ronda Rousey is the world's biggest badass, the U.S. Women's Soccer Team has become a huge inspiration to so many girls who dream of playing sports one day, and Becky Hammon is helping coach one of the best teams in the NBA, women are finally realizing their place in athletics.
So as women start to impact sports more and more, we need to acknowledge issues that women go through,not just ones that men go through. One of the most important issues is breast cancer. Why is it so wrong for a bunch of dudes playing football or baseball to take a few games out of their season to acknowledge the fight against breast cancer by wearing pink wristbands and using pink bats?
That's not a sign of feminism taking over, that's just being ethically responsible.
Plus, for men, this is a great opportunity to educate ourselves on what women go through with breast cancer. You see a player wearing pink, you look up why, you read about breast cancer awareness. It's a simple idea.
Some of the players, like NFL running back Deangelo Williams, have mothers who have suffered from breast cancer and want to pay tribute to them, along with the millions of women who are fighting the disease.
Williams' mother passed away from breast cancer in 2014. It isn't a feminist ploy that drives him to wear pink.
2. Sports Figures Forget About Other Cancers
This one really confuses me. Just because athletes and teams wear pink absolutely does not mean that they are ignoring all other types of cancers.
If you think that, let me introduce you to the Jimmy V Foundation, which researches all cancers and aims to find a cure for cancer. Period. The NCAA and ESPN are heavily involved with the Jimmy V Foundation, specifically with Jimmy V Week, which in 2013, brought in $1.8 million to help cancer research.
The NCAA also promotes Coaches vs. Cancer, which is a partnership between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. They also research all cancers.
How about the MLB's work with Stand Up To Cancer? Their mission statement includes that they have "has set out to generate awareness, educate the public on cancer prevention and help more people diagnosed with cancer become long-term survivors." The MLB emphatically supports SU2C's research and partners with them to schedule events across all of baseball, from farm systems to major league clubs, to promote research for all cancers. Just look at this picture from MLB's tribute during the 2012 World Series.
All those signs say are the names of someone they stand up for that has fought cancer. They don't state what type of cancer. That's not the point. They stand together to fight all cancer and for the people who have fought it.
No, just because players wear pink does not mean they forget about all other cancers.
3. Pink Clashes With Uniforms
Yes, this shallow argument exists.
I get it. Pink can clash with a lot of uniform colors. Who cares? The uniform and equipment colors should not grate your nerves THAT badly.
Plus, some of these uniforms turn out to be pretty sweet, like Oregon's from last year.
Those don't clash. If they did, I wouldn't care. Wearing pink isn't supposed to be a fashion statement in the first place. It's a statement to raise awareness about breast cancer and to fight it, together.
We can't fight breast cancer together if all we fight about is what pink represents and how it looks.
Sports is still an ever-evolving entity. What used to be just a game now has the power to be an influential tool. Breast cancer is a worthy fight that, for at least the month of October, will enter into the forefront. This means pink will be worn. That color represents a lot of things like being good, cooperation, and caring for others.
It does not represent a rapid feminist takeover of sports. It does not represent athletes and administrators ignoring other cancers. And who cares if pink clashes with uniforms? The point of wearing pink is not to make a cool fashion trend.
We've all been affected by cancer in some way. Lung cancer took the life of my grandfather when I was just six years-old. No matter what type of cancer, it will always leave it's mark.
So, perhaps wearing pink is how we help women leave their mark in the fight against breast cancer.
