As many people know, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For one month a year, the color pink is literally everywhere. Cheerleaders use pink pom-poms, people wear pink ribbons and shirts, football players wear pink socks, and Facebook is flooded with shared pictures and statuses letting people know that it is, in fact, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Now don’t get me wrong- it’s great that people are bringing awareness to this awful disease. But what are these “campaigns” really doing?
One of the more popular campaigns involving breast cancer awareness is the “Wear Pink” campaign. Wearing pink is all good and well, but what does it actually do? I know it supports those who have or had breast cancer, and that’s great. But we can do more than just wear pink. Instead of simply asking fans to wear pink and having cheerleaders and football players wear pink hair ribbons and socks, schools wishing to bring awareness to breast cancer can do so much more. How about donating a portion of ticket sales to breast cancer research or setting up a booth giving women information about mammograms and breast cancer risks? Businesses that allow their employees to wear pink can also donate a portion of sales on one particular day to breast cancer charities. We can, and should, do more than just wear pink.
Not too long ago, an image popped up on my Facebook news feed. This image (seen below) showed a woman with her back toward the camera holding her bra up in the air and advertised “No Bra Day” and “set[ting] the ta-ta's free” on October 13th in “support [of] breast cancer.”
Honestly, this picture made me angry. What does not wearing a bra do to support the women with this life threatening, awful disease? What’s the point? I’ll tell you. It does absolutely nothing but sexualize breast cancer and make it about the “ta-tas” instead of the women themselves. I’m sure many of you have also seen the phrases “save the ta-ta's,” “save the boobies,” and “save second base.” These campaigns pop up mainly during the month of October, and aim to bring awareness to breast cancer. Instead, I believe they are merely sexualizing the disease. The media and, in turn, most of the breast cancer awareness movement has inadvertently made breast cancer awareness more about the breasts than the women themselves. In her article "My Disease Isn't a Cutesy Slogan," breast cancer survivor Lara Huffman said
"After hearing each of them confirm that I should indeed have the surgery, I didn't look at them and say, 'No, I don't accept your recommendations. You figure out a way to save my breasts. You hear me, doctor? Whatever it takes, and I mean whatever, you save my breasts!' Of course not."
The women living with and surviving breast cancer, and all women in fact, are more than just a pair of breasts. They are more than just mounds of fat on their chest that became sexualized for whatever reason. They are mothers, sisters, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, and friends. They are the people they love, the things they do, the ideas they have, and the things they believe.
So what can we do to change the sexualization of breast cancer campaigns? We can throw out the “save the ta-ta's” shirts and bracelets and stop buying these items. We can instead give the money we would spend on a random pink shirt to “raise awareness” to an organization that gives the money to breast cancer research (and not a CEO). We can stop sharing “No Bra Day” and “save the boobies” pictures on Facebook. We can instead share information on mammograms and the stories of women who survive breast cancer. We can share their strengths, their stories, and their lives. Together, as a society, we can save the women- not just the “ta-ta's.”
