So it’s begun. It’s officially October and the ta-tas are singing about it. Yes, I’m talking about Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Firstly, I do want to say that I wholly support the cause. Cancer is a terrible thing, and a cure needs to be found for it. I do believe it will be found in our generation’s lifetime; at least I hope one will be.
Now, I know this has nothing to do with entertainment, but I still feel the need to talk about it. And before your hate flags fly, keep in mind that I do support finding a cure for breast cancer. That being said, I think the whole campaign for breast cancer has gotten to be nothing short of ridiculous for a number of reasons. Firstly, the campaign itself is counter-productive. I understand that the point is to spread awareness in order to get more women to get mammograms so that they can catch the cancer in it’s early stages, thus decreasing the chances of fatality. However, honorable as that may be, wouldn’t it also be nice to actually donate to the cause so that research for a cure can be funded? I mean, really, I don’t think I know a single person who doesn’t know about breast cancer. i.e. We’re aware, so it’s time to actually do something about it.
Second, the campaign’s methods of “spreading awareness” are shortsighted, faulty, and, well demeaning. Facebook has been a prime outlet for spreading awareness as of the past year or so, and its methods are down right juvenile. Telling people where you left your purse, what color bra you’re wearing, and where you like getting banged, not only does not inform them about breast cancer at all, it makes you look like trash. For all the women that like to walk in marches and give speeches on how they shouldn’t be treated as objects and how there’s more to them than just sex, these statements, simple as they may be, really build up to take you a step backward in that fight. And to be honest, you really suck at telling people about breast cancer. All that does is confuse people. It's a feel-good campaign designed to make women feel like they're making a difference even though they really aren't helping the cause at all. I certainly don’t care enough to look up some stupid inside joke between half of my female facebook friends. The only reason I know about this is because someone else looked it up, and I happened upon them commenting about it.
Third, breast cancer is not the only cancer out there. As I’ve said before, we’re aware of breast cancer. We may not be doing much for it, but we are well aware of it. Now how about brain cancer? Lung cancer? Skin Cancer? Prostate? Testicular? Colon? What about those cancers? My grandmother died of lung cancer, and her idiot doctors didn't catch it until Stage 3 (which is bad for those who don't know what that means), yet I never see any campaigns about lung cancer. And I find that offensive, especially considering the ridiculous amount of people that still smoke these days, and instill second-hand smoke unto others, many of which I am certain are posting these ridiculous statuses. My other grandmother had skin cancer because she got too much sunlight through the course of her life, yet I don’t hear any campaigns for that either. On top of that, just before her death, hundreds of tiny tumors were found in her brain. She died before I ever got to know her, and I’ve grown up having to only hear what a wonderful individual she was.
She was 52. Where’s her campaign?
As it is, breast cancer is one of the most common cancers out there. However it is also one of the most treatable. If you have brain cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, or colon cancer, it’s not as easy to get rid of, and just trying to can kill you. All cancers are bad, and there should be awareness campaigns for each of them. But I’m not going to tell people what I had for lunch to promote colon cancer awareness, nor say something manly about building bridges to promote prostate cancer awareness. And I think if you really want to help the cause, then you should get off your ass, pull out your wallet, and make a donation instead of making yourself sound like a slut on facebook while all your girlfriends giggle about how you’re changing the world.
2 comments:
I honestly had no idea either facebook thing was for breast cancer until people started yelling about it, and I mean, regardless of what people say it clearly isn't. It's a stupid facebook joke that I thought was kind of funny.
Breast cancer is serious, and I do have some things to say about the "feminising" and "cute-ising" of breast cancer, and pink-all-over-freaking-everything-because-apparently-only-women-get-breast-cancer month, but I also think pointing your rage and frustration at facebook is misdirected.
I'm not pointing it at facebook. I'm pointing at the campaign in general. Just as I said, I don't believe that little sayings of missing purses and sexualization are helping the cause. Yes, these things happen to be on facebook, but are ultimately a part of the campain. Post links, or hell post likes to websites with information, clinics that offer affordable mammograms, or areas where people can donate to the cause. But this new direction that they seem to be taking on facebook just isn't the right way to go about it.
And I believe you when you say you had no idea. I'm not pointing the figure at specific individuals. Hell, I almost considered doing it myself just to be in on it, but then decided against it because maybe it was just some dumb inside joke that will make me look like a poser and an ass for contributing to something to which I know nothing about.
Point being, I'm sure many people had no idea what they were posting about. This post isn't to ridicule them, just to point out that I believe that this campaign is extremely flawed, as well as the fact that other cancers tend to get the short end of the stick in the race for the cure, which is ultimately probably what upset me the most to be honest.
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