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Pink Nuns
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. As I breast cancer survivor myself, I am all for promoting early detection via mammography screening, clinical breast exams performed by health care providers, and breast self-examination.
I’m also for supporting a cure for breast cancer via reputable organizations such as the following:
In regard to the pink phenomenon, I am growing increasingly uncomfortable with the whole “pink” phenomenon. Why? Because in some (many?) places, pink is used as a way to move product or to tug at the heart enough to loosen the purse strings. Just because an item is pink does not mean it is supporting a cure for breast cancer. In some cases, products say “a portion of the purchase goes toward …” but in reality, it might be minuscule. More on pink ribbon overkill.
At the same time, it is necessary that we financially support breast cancer awareness and research. Read the labels and if you really want to support the cure, give money, time, and effort to the organizations listed above. Sporting pink ribbons and the like is good — in moderation, but please don’t forget to take care that your money and support is going to the good guys.
In tandem with this is an article in the Huffington Post by Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Visco, a breast cancer survivor, explains why she’s not “celebrating” National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In many ways I agree. The coalition’s website www.StopBreastCancer.org is another good source for information on pursuing a cure for breast cancer. I do have one point of disagreement, however, in their tag line “give up hope”. While I get that it means getting off ones duff and doing something about finding a cure, I think true hope is what inspires us to believe in and work for a cure, it’s what allows us to make possible the seemingly impossible. (On the topic of hope … Check out a post I wrote a while back on Hope against Hope after seeing encountering a beautifully written, chilling graffitti message: F$%# hope.)
So this month, as well as every other month, I will wear the one pink-ribboned item I own, a bracelet from my sister. And, I will get my mammogram and I will donate for a cure.
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{ 6 comments }
Your title reminded me of these sisters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOHo3GYF-Mk&feature=related
PS–My youngest sister (2x BC survivor!) totally agrees with you about the overkill on the pink campaign. I want these product to declare UP FRONT what percentage of sales will go to breast cancer research!
Yes, they really are the pink nuns! And that’s quite the pink too!
Don’t be so fast to dis the pink, Sister. It saved me from a lot of “‘splainin’” one weekend…
Stan and I took the Grandkids to Cincinnati about 2 months ago to the Newport Aquarium and decided it would be fun to stay in downtown Cincinnati in the Marriott. We had a free room and we thought the boys would enjoy it, so we got a room as high as we could because when the desk clerk asked for room preference, Jayden just pointed straight up. There was a convention of some sort going on and all the ladies had pink on and were carrying pink bags and we could see seas of them coming and going through the streets from our room with a view. I finally ran into one in the lobby and was able to read the bag and it was a sales convention for–let’s just say “marital aids”. Great. I started worrying about what the boys might see or read or whatever and then Jayden asked what the pink was all about and before I could even break a sweat Nathaniel was telling him it was “breast cancer ladies.” Whew! Saved by the pink.
I dis not the pink. It is a life saver, as you so elegantly showed.
Here’s a group folks from St Louis affectionately call “The Pink Sisters.” I used to go to their chapel on my way back and forth from downtown while I still lived in “the Lou”
http://www.mountgraceconvent.org/home.html
I do love the Pink Sisters.