I asked myself what I really hope to accomplish by writing about this, and I guess I just want to make people THINK about what they're really giving money to. I want equal attention paid to other cancers; failing that, I would at least like MORE attention paid to other cancers. I would like attention paid to other chronic diseases. I don't want all of those to get as much attention as BC gets now - I would like to see the pink die back to a reasonable level.
Yeah, you may say I'm a dreamer (but I'm not the only one).
Hopefully I have made some people think. I honestly believe that most people have good intentions, and would be appalled to find out what's really going on.
Here is an exchange from the comments of an online article. The article was about how some people think there is too much pink:
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I go out of my way to not buy products with the pink ribbon - toilet paper, yogurt, etc. Just what percentage of my purchase actually goes to breast cancer research? Athletes wearing pink shoes? Overkill. I seem to recall that in May / Mother's Day athletes wear pink again with baseball players using pink bats. Enough!
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" I go out of my way to not buy products with the pink ribbon - toilet paper, yogurt, etc. Just what percentage of my purchase actually goes to breast cancer research? "
maybe I read this wrong, but let me make sure that I understand you. You already buy yogurt, toilet paper, ect, at a fixed price, right? Now you're telling me that for the same amount of money (for the same product) the company will give away a % of the funds to help cure cancer.... and you intentionally stay away? It may just be 1%, but people like you, who "go out of my way not to purchase pink products" are doing nothing but giving that money back to the manufacturer instead of helping with a cause.
That's sad.
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Except that very little of that 1% goes to *cure cancer*. Instead it goes to make more pink toilet paper (likely with carcinogenic dyes), pink porta-potties and inflated salaries. Have a heart for those of us who have HAD breast cancer and are so bloody sick of the pink. It's not curing anything!
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I am a breast cancer survivor, and I have gotten tired of all the commercialism about 'cancer'. What is the big deal? It is just another disease. As is said already, heart disease kills more women than cancers.
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I feel sad for your mentality. I hope enlightenment comes your way.
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Wow! Really? I am also a BC "survivor". I also hate that term. I had a disease, and I was treated for it. How dare you tell any of us what it's OK to think and feel. Most BC people I've met also hate the pink. Some of them won't say it because of stupid statements like yours above. And yes, I go out of my way to not buy pink products. You certainly have the right to your opinion but I hope your own enlightenment comes very soon.
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it's simple - "What is the big deal? It is just another disease." is a cancerous mentality in itself. (Especially coming from a former breast cancer patient)
You said you were a BC patient - you ever think the treatments you received, the doctors who treated you, ect may have had some of their funding from charities like this.... & now you go out of your way to not buy simple products that fund the research for a cure?
My statement wasn't "stupid", and the enlightenment I was talking about was - - How can you go thru the process of having BC and emerge at the end not wanting to help others, even in the smallest way? (In this case buying products)
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everyone has a right to his/her opinion, but let me tell you some facts--i am a physician, i teach and research and diagnose BC, i also have donated help and counselled countless patients, so please don't presume i dont want to help others. you talk about those doctors? i am one of them. BC IS a chronic disease, sooner people treat it like any other chronic disease, the better. that is the only way to remove the 'big scare' out of it. for your information, i work with curing and treating BC all my life,i dont have to or want to go commercial and turn the world pink to show off to others how much i 'support the cause'!
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I'm sorry I said your statement was stupid. I do believe it is uninformed. Please do some research on this. Yes, I will go out of my way to not buy "pinked" products, and with good reason. Many other people, including every single breast cancer patient I have ever personally met, will do the same. Please check out "Pink Ribbon Blues" and "Pink Ribbons, Inc." to learn why we feel the way we do. There are real ways to help. Of course it is much easier to buy a product you were going to buy anyway and call it a day - go to bed feeling all philanthropic and stuff, but what you're really doing is lining the companies' pockets. If you want to donate to research, please do so. Pinkwashing is not the way to do it if you really want to help. "Think before you pink".
Additionally, BC is just one of many diseases out there. I would love to see equal attention paid to some of the others. As a BC patient, receiving chemo last year during October, it was embarrassing to see the attention even the cancer center paid to BC month while none was given to other cancers
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There was much more. Hopefully, posts like this will make people think a little more about what they are actually doing and how it is/isn't helping.
Now, please read this article. (LINK) Please take the time to read it, and the comments too. It's mind boggling to me how even those organizations who SAY they are trying to help really don't WANT the truth.
This is crazy, and it needs to change!!
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Stupid Pink of the Day (I am going to run out of days long before I run out of stupid pink):
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| Some pink is stupid just because it's pink overload. |
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| Offensive and untrue. |
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| If you love the color pink and just want pink cookware, I am not talking to you. |
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