WHY PINKTOBER SUCKS

Excellent article, Traveltext.

kksmom, for me, that they make money is not the problem. The problem is where the money goes and how it is spent. I'm okay when the $ (all the $, not just 25%, to Traveltext's point in the article) go to fund the development of new treatments or to support patients with breast cancer.

But the other problem is that regardless of how well the money is spent, almost every BC charity and fundraiser completely ignores and brushes under the rug the fact that there is any misery and suffering associated with breast cancer. It's all pink boas and balloons and happy survivors who seemingly don't have any more worries about breast cancer and no side effects from their treatments. And Stage IV... let's hide them in a dark corner and never let anyone know that they exist because, well, you know, they might spoil the party.

At least this year, with Covid, all the cheery pink crap seems to be a lot less prevalent.

I have never celebrated my BC and hate that others feel I should do so. I have not found one aspect of BC that I feel needs to be celebrated and if one more person (including MD's) tells me I am a survivor, I will throttle them. To date, all I have survived was the brutal treatment (no, I did not do chemo but found surgery and radiation traumatic enough). I have a permanent reminder everyday that I had BC and cannot escape it since it has become the landscape of my body and is not pretty.

Its all about the boobs. Think of all the other cancers that exist, some with worse survival rates. They might nominally have a month and a ribbon, but they don't get anywhere near the same attention as Breast Cancer™ because pancreases and brains and livers and bones and other body parts just aren't sexy. That's why Pinktober is about saving breasts, not lives.

selizabeth, what I would do is post a simple "Breast cancer also steals lives. Saving lives is more important to me than saving second base." and maybe even add a smiley face at the end to show that I'm saying it in good cheer and not anger (even though I'd be fuming). Did your friend include a link for donations to a BC charity? Because if not, I would probably ask, "So where should we be donating to show our support?" It would appear supportive but would subtly make the point that a silly meme doesn't do a bloody thing to help anyone.

Agree with Beesie's suggestion. Did your friend not realize that this would be offensive to you? If not, why not? Besides the fact, do males with BC consider these to be second base? This meme fails on multiple levels including the friendship one. While I might not want to embarrasss my friend online, at some point I would have to point out how tasteless and hurtful I found this posting.

In replying to that tasteless post, what Beesie said, and then don't forget to suggest where people can donate and have their donation actually fund research for better treatment/cure or directly help patients. Direct that small impulse to do something into an actually helpful path.

I just saw the following article.

Yup, another mindless celebrity promoting Breast Cancer Awareness Month by displaying her breasts. But it's okay, because a whopping 5% of the proceeds from October sales of these bras will be donated to the Women's Cancer Research Fund, a charitable fund set up by celebrities for celebrities - oh, how exciting!

January Jones poses in a pink bra for Breast Cancer Awareness month as she vows to 'stand with' her loved ones fighting the disease

https://starspost.com/january-jones-poses-in-a-pink-bra-for-breast-cancer-awareness-month/

Grrrr.

I aam bitch. I posted the following response to my (pharmacist!) friend as to her above picture on Facebook:

Do you know what women on the breastcancer.org discussion boards call this month? Puketober or Focktober. They despise the sexualized cutesy sparkly pinkness (especially the men with breast cancer) and find it extremely offensive that people are talking about "saving the tatas" or "saving second base" instead of saving their lives. Women diagnosed de novo Stage IV are particularly horrified, since they are pretty much left out of this. "Awareness" and screening has not changed the fact that approximately 30% of women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer will go on to metastatic breast cancer and die from it. All the campaigns have made people think that cute breast cancer is a "good one" to get. We don't sexualize or make testicular cancer "cutesy." Another fact: most breast cancers (except DCIS, which the medical profession is investigating as being overtreated) are still found by DIAGNOSTIC mammograms because a person or their doctor felt or saw something. Not by "screening" mammograms.

👍⭐👍⭐👍⭐👍⭐ MelissaDallas!

Excellent response! You told her off by educating her and anyone else reading.

Way to go. What did your friend say in response?

As long as breast cancer is represented as pink, cute, sexy, fun, 100% survivable, a good reason to throw a party...the gritty realities will be buried.

She probably meant to be helpful.......but that cartoon is dumb and offensive.

What truth here. Thanks, TT.