Pinktober Revolution
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sula- well said, very well said. Even before my DX I was always so enraged at the sexualization of BC. I just think it's SICKENING. It's an effing disease that can KILL, for goodness sake!!! WTH is wrong w/ people?!
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I posted the following to my facebook about an hour ago. It has 12 likes and 6 shares so far. ( I have very few facebook friends.). Hopefully those who shared can get to shared on and on ...
Today is the last day of September. Which means tomorrow starts October, the month designated as "Breast Cancer Awareness" month. First let me say: "We are aware! We need a CURE!"
Next comes the stupidity. If you know someone who has breast cancer, and you must have been living under a rock the last few decades if you don't, then for crying out loud - use some common sense! BOOBS may be a joke! (And I do love a good boob joke.). CANCER is NOT a JOKE! Breast cancer continues to KILL 40,000 women every year in the USA.
ONE HUNDRED AND TEN mothers! sisters! daughters! teachers! rich ones! poor ones! And YES even males. All just want to LIVE!
WILL DIE TODAY. 110 will die tomorrow, 3,410 will DIE during the month of breast cancer awareness known as October.
PLEASE!!!! THINK BEFORE YOU PINK THIS OCTOBER!
I also plan to put a link to a story, a blog, a educational piece, something to put a true picture of Breast. Cancer on Facebook each day of October.
Does anyone else get irritated with the stupid stuff? What do you? I am already quite anger over some of it. Just don't know what to do. So this is what I am doing.
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Scuttlers,
I' expanding what Inwrote here for my Facebook page also along with the link to Pink a Ribbons Inc which Kacj turned me on to. Have you seen that one
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Tell These Pinkwashers: “Poison Isn’t Pretty”
Demand the Personal Care Products Council and the American Cancer Society stop pinkwashing!
http://cqrcengage.com/bcaction/home
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So it begins. Here was my FB post today. Lots of things I included came from this very thread, so thank you all. (For those asking if they may share the post on Facebook, absolutely. It's here.)
Please share. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This month please remember, this disease isn't pink or fun, it's deadly. If you update your Facebook status for a day, or post a silly photo to "raise awareness", don't forget to back it up with real action:
- donate blood, platelets and/or bone marrow (https://bethematch.org/About-us/)
- donate hair http://pantene.com/en-us/brandexperience/make-the-cut
- or donate money. Please specify that you want it to go to research. I recommend the following organizations:BreastCancer.org - the site where I learned most everything when I was diagnosed, and where I still learn daily.
http://support.breastcancer.org/donatenowMetavivor - While 30% of all breast cancer patients will metastasize (that is, have their cancer spread to other areas), only 2% of funding goes to investigate metastatic breast cancer.
https://secure.metavivor.org/page/contribute/Please check CharityNavigator.com before deciding where to donate.
Breast cancer awareness isn't about "saving second base." Here's the reality:
Over 40,000 people will die of breast cancer in the US in 2015.
There will be over 230,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer in the US this year. More than 2300 of them will be men.
Metastasic breast cancer (spread of the cancer usually to the brain, liver, lungs or bones), is incurable. Metastatic disease is the initial diagnosis for 6-10% of all new U.S. breast cancer cases each year.
Nearly 3 in 10 women who have had early breast cancer will eventually develop metastatic disease.
About 10% of breast cancer cases are genetic. Roughly 75% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no identifiable risk factors.
Statistics mean nothing. Reality is either 100% or 0%.
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excellent work, everyone! Cheesquake! Yessss!
I am reposting my own post about a project I'm trying to get off the ground. It is self- explanatory.
https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/69/topic/...
Please take the time to follow the link. And wish me luck!
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This is currently on my FB page
Ok, so I've been doing a lot of thinking about this post since the month of October aka Breast Cancer Awareness Month is starting tomorrow and I'm already getting inundated with pink stuff of all descriptions. I've had two cancer diagnoses 25 yrs apart. The first one in 1990, sort of almost pre Komen and all the pink shit, no secret FB codes, nothing on Twitter, no weird emails, nothing being sold on Amazon as none of that stuff existed yet. It was Pre- Pink. My second diagnosis last year came with all the benefits of the internet, social media, online support groups, # chatter on Twitter, easy access to information, medical records, etc. Of course things are better now, more info, easier access, help just a keyboard away. There are also negatives. The biggest one is known among many of us who deal with this disease in our lives as Pinktober when all the world and every possible item that could ever be sold online, or over a counter in the real world turns pink for 31 days in the name of breast cancer. When stuff like this turns up
A few days ago another woman who has had breast cancer told me about a film called Pink Ribbons Inc. it was available on Amazon so Alan and I watched it. The trailer is below...Trailer here
The thing that drives me nuts and gets me all ragey is the sexualization of this disease.The Save Second Base, Save the Tatas, Sacks for Racks etc. Where in the fucking world is sexualization of any other life threatening illness? They don't do that for ovarian cancer, or prostate cancer, we don't see signs saying Save the Teabags for ball cancer, there is no jokey, sexy bullshit over AIDS....and there shouldn't be. Breast cancer is not a joke, funny, sexy, fluffy or pink. It can be ugly, messy, uncomfortable, emotionally and economically devastating, and it kills people. 40,000 women and men ( yeah guys too) a year. It is not the "good cancer" the "easy cancer" nor the "curable" cancer. It's just plain old cancer, yes early detection is great and helps immensely..but not always and to lull people into thinking if they're "aware" whatever the fuck that means, and wear enough pink or show their bra straps or whatever FB code is rampant this year they're safe. No. Just no. It's a disease. Treat it that way, not like Womens' History Month or whatever. Find a cure, or find a way to make this disease for those who are stage IV merely a chronic survivable illness similar to diabetes, or high blood pressure, Something that people can live with like my friends with HIV do. Otherwise all October means is a pink stun gun and a guy in a boob scarf.
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Wel done, Sula! This is war. It's definitely a revolution.
Thanks again, Sas!
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Jack,
What a great and strong picture of you!!! Fuck pink! Sorry for the potty mouth but.....I don't roll with the PG13
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Just found another great case against pink. The pink fracking drillbits (mentioned in the article)... beyond the pale.
Not For Sale – A Case Against Pinktober
Breast cancer marketers and politicians have the same foundational ideology. They appeal to the part of us that wants to think we're helping others. By playing to our emotions – the patriotic, flag-waving, pink-ribbon-wearing side – they get us amped up, and our wisdom goes out the window because our hearts are too full of pink mush. The actual issues, though, are deeper than the glib slogans and speeches.
There is a Buddhist mantra – "when the heart and mind are united, anything is possible." Wisdom without compassion is cruelty. Compassion without wisdom is idiot compassion. Idiot compassion is what gets politicians elected, and it's what makes money hand-over-fist for the NFL and many other organizations in the name of breast cancer.
Before I got breast cancer, I did the Race for the Cure. I was a pink-ribbon-shoelace wearing gal. My compassion was huge, but I had not once researched what Komen was actually doing to help find a cure. I just assumed that anyone who says they are doing good in the name of cancer is actually doing good in the name of cancer. Apparently, I was a little naive.
In 2011 I got the education of a lifetime. I got breast cancer. Twice. Somewhere in there, among the treatments and surgeries, all that marketing became personal. I'm pretty sure it was October when that happened. Or, should I say, it was "Pinktober." I realized they they were using my disease to sell things that actually cause cancer. They were selling pink buckets of fried chicken. They were selling cosmetics with known carcinogens in them (too many to link to there). I felt whored out. Without consent.
Suddenly, all those pink ribbons were personal. I began to question how much of the pink money was going to research to save my life. As it turns out, not very much. A quick search on the interwebs produces several companies that make all sorts of pink tchotchkes for sale. Some for as little as forty-five cents! Their sites have a spiel about the products being helpful reminders to women about breast exams. I'm going to take a wild stab and guess that a 55-cent tube of chapstick isn't contributing much to scientific research. They are literally using a deadly disease to sell pens.
Are any of us unaware of the prevalence of breast cancer? Nope. What some of us might not know, however, is that the rates of survival haven't really changed, despite all those pink pens and shoelaces. Thirty percent of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer will be diagnosed with metastatic disease and die. Thirty percent. How much breast cancer research funding goes toward curing or treatments for metastatic disease? TWO percent. The average survival for women who are diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer is 18-24 months. Since 1976, the rates of women under age 40 who are diagnosed with metastatic disease has actually gone up approximately 2% per year.
They are marketing pink fracking drill bits while women continue to die. And it works for them, because they are appealing to our sentiment. There is nothing sentimentality hates more than reality. It's not pretty to think of young women, with young children, having their breasts removed, or their fertility taken. It's not sexy to see bald, pale, young women at the grocery store. The reality is that there are women out there who are dragging our asses to the oncology infusion lounge, despite our own bodies' protests, to literally get poisoned, knowing that this time will be worse than the last time because the side effects are cumulative. Some of us are walking into the radiation chamber daily to get burned, for five to seven weeks.
We need to advance the conversation past awareness that breast cancer exists. We need better treatments, at the very least. The fact that, in 2015, we are still doing things as barbaric as breast amputation is astounding to me. I've had the surgery. It is not fancy reconstruction to give you perky new boobs. It is Frankenstein-like. Ask any woman who has had reconstruction and she will tell you that she would take her saggy, imperfect boobs back in a heartbeat.
There is another link between breast cancer marketers and politicians. It's not a metaphorical link, but an actual link. Komen created that link when they temporarily defunded Planned Parenthood in 2012. Though they didn't explicitly say the reason was connected to abortion, we all knew it was. It was that moment that I realized that Komen had jumped the shark. When you put politics over carved up, poisoned, burned, and dying mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives you have taken yourself out of the helping industry.
Tomorrow is October 1. Before you get out those pink pom poms and spend all your money on pink crap, put your wisdom where your wallet is. Buy what you want to buy because you want it or need it. If you have some dollars to donate, and you want to be wise and compassionate, give them to Metavivor, Young Survival Coalition, or a local breast cancer charity that you know is actually helping breast cancer survivors. I do not give my permission to be whored out.
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EXCELLENT!!!!
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Cheesquake- wonderful. Just linked it to my FB page. I wish I could get my local newspaper to print it!
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EXCELLENT !!!
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Great post Cheesquake.
I'd like to add that because pink has been chosen to denote the disease, it is reinforcing the common perception that males don't get breast cancer. They are hence diagnosed later, since they and their health practitioners are not recognizing symptoms of the disease early enough. Our survival rates are therefore lower than for women.
As well, since there is a lack of male-specific clinical research, and even basic collation and analysis of treatment meta data, the treatment for males is based on what has proven effective for women.
As a man who is happy to talk about his breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, I am always quick to point out that the care I received was first class and equal to that of the many women I was treated alongside.
While the whole pink thing is a load of crap, it is arguably a monster that is out of control.
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Traveltxt- eloquent and true, as always. A monster out of control.
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Cheesequake, you are my hero.
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Cheesequake,
Absolutely brilliant!!!
Travelttext,
Well put, my maleneighbor across the street and I were diagnosed around the same time
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I just want to clarify that the "I don't do pink" picture is me, and the words in that post are mine. The "Not For Sale - A Case Against Pinktober" article is not by me, it's by Brandie Sellers. At the bottom of the article it notes that she "is an author, yoga educator, speaker and two-time breast cancer survivor. She became a feminist in elementary school when she read about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Seneca Falls, and has been pretty pissed about the treatment of women ever since."
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Cheese- it was brilliant of you to find it and recognize the powerful effect it would have on your sister warriors. I thought it was clear already, and any ammunition isgood! Thanks again
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I've now added to the hero list. It includes Cheesequake, Sula, Traveltext, JackBirdie, and everyone else who challenges the pretty pink image of BC that bombards us this month, whether in their own words or by sharing someone else's.
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thanks Chicago Reader. It will take all of us to stop it.
For anyone interested, here is a quick link to Breast Cancer Awareness' campaign to stop the cosmetics companies from giving known carcinogens to cancer patients via the Look Good Feel Better program. A nationwide campaign to stop this practice was launched yesterday.
http://bcaction.org/2015/09/30/tell-these-pinkwash...
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Cheesequake and all others on this thread, I love you and I hate pink. BTW, going for more tests to check for recurrence. Cancer is so cruel
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sas-schatzi wrote:
Cheerleading for BCO. They are our home, our resource, we gain so much by being here. They have costs. Let's help.
They make periodic requests by email. They're is the donation link in the header. An easy way for those that do online banking is to set up a donation on a predictable basis.
We need to do this. They take care of us. Let's make sure we take care of them.
You don't have to send a check. Do it simply in your online banking. But if you are still stuck on checks.........
To donate by mail, please send your check payable to Breastcancer.org to:
120 E. Lancaster Avenue | Suite 201 | Ardmore, PA 19003link to BCO Our biggest advocate
https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/110/topic...
Link to the mainboard donation page
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you can also make a donation in honor of something or somebody. I made a donation in honor of the 2015 March Chemo group that virtually saved me during chemo. They were my first "loves" on bco. You bet I appreciate this place!
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Jackb, true, I started doing 10$/month by on line banking. May be too much for some, but for me it's one less Mc Donalds meal that I should avoid anyway. Seriously, though, I can't conceive how I would have gotten through since 2009. Too much chit going on and the only ones that understood were here. I started the thread in Aug this year and idea of cheerleading for them, as a way to give back for what they had given me. Pinktober just started back up. Each year I try to think of something. The year I started Pinktober happened, started with the same thought.
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And we are lucky, and I am grateful you did. Having a channel to direct my anger has been very helpful for me emotionally. Thanks again.
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It's a pity to lose a titty. Are you f-ing kidding me????
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A pink construction elevator attached to the outside of a building being renovated. What in the world does that have to do with BC? Apparently not the first one installed. What fund raising nonsense will they think up next?
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Thought I'd check out what was happening with testicular cancer. This is a facebook page. Their doing a good job. Their slogans are typically male, but they are getter'in it done.
https://www.facebook.com/theBoysforTC
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I posted this today to my FB page:
"It's a pity to lose a titty." Seriously. Do people even think before posting such tripe. It's not about losing "a titty." It's about losing a life. 40,290 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2015 from breast cancer. And I'm sure every one "fought like a girl." tried to save their "ta ta's," and put their "best breast forward." We need to stop sexualizing breast cancer. I have yet to see a brightly colored jock strap with catchy phrases like "don't lose your luggage," or something equally distasteful to raise awareness of testicular cancer. And no posts urging men to go commando to support their cause. grrr And it's only October 2nd. It's going to be a long month.
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