Fame at last!

OK, I'll try.

OH NO - IT'S PINKTOBER!

Did you know October is Breast Cancer Awareness month? It's hard not to notice when our attention is drawn to the pinkness of NFL players, toilet paper, yogurt pots and slippers. Did you know September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month, Leukemia and Lymphoma Cancer Awareness month, Ovarian Cancer Awareness month AND Prostate Cancer Awareness month, and that November is Lung Cancer Awareness month? No? Do you know the ribbon color of these cancers? No? I'm not surprised. None of these cancers are as sexy as breast cancer and so don't get the same attention. Yes, there are some who like to show support through buying pink, giving pink or wearing pink, but there is also an ever-increasing number of people surviving breast cancer who have mixed feelings about "Pinktober", the whole notion of "awareness", and the sexual overtones attached to breastcancer.  

Many people feel they are doing their bit for breast cancer by buying pink products. It makes them feel good - warm and fuzzy inside. However, very few people take note of what they are actually contributing when buying pink items. While there are some who give generously, other manufacturers simply use pink on their packaging as a marketing tool and actually contribute little or no money. Any company can put a pink ribbon on their packaging. And it works! People feel good because they think they are donating to a worthy cause. Corporations are raking in the money in the guise of supporting breast cancer. If the product does not say which organization is getting a donation from your purchase, chances are not much, if anything, is being contributed.

Then there are the annual Facebook games which are supposed to raise awareness. One year it was posting "I like it on the couch" or the counter or the bed - wherever you leave your purse. What does this do for breast cancer? It is trivializing breast cancer with its sexual innuendoes. It reduces the disease to a game. Breast cancer is not a game; nor is it warm, fuzzy or pink. It is a disease that kills 40,000 women every year in this country alone. Did you know there is no cure? We go through some combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation upon initial diagnosis and have to live the rest of our lives wondering if it will come back. We never know - unless it does come back.

What we need is education and a cure, not awareness. How much more aware do we need to be? Why does it cost money to be aware? All it takes is every mother to teach every daughter to do self breast exams, get an annual clinical exam and mammograms at the appropriate time, and do something about it if you find a lump.

If you really want to do something for all those with breast cancer - and remember it affects 1 in 8 women, so even if you don't know anyone now, you will - educate yourself and help find a cure. If you want to donate money, give it to research, not awareness. And if you find yourself thinkingabout playing those cutesy, pink awareness games, check out this website first: www.thescarproject.org. 

 Think before you give to pink - please!