metallic gold cones :)

by Jamie Doak

It’s Facebook’s Doppelganger Week and everyone is changing their profile pics to a celebrity they either look like (or more often) wished they looked like.  Anyway, it reminded me of the craze on Facebook a month ago when a ton of women on facebook started updating their statuses with their bra color in order to raise awareness for breast cancer.  I really want someone to tell me how updating your status with Cindy Lou Who: lacy black is “raising awareness” for breast cancer. Is it to let people know about the existence of breast cancer?  Because 1) you failed because you didn’t say anything about breast cancer in that update and 2) you failed because I’m going to venture a guess that anyone who has Facebook knows about the existence of breast cancer.  

I’m totally into educating people about early detection of breast cancer, informing people about when they need to go to the doctor and raising money for research and treatment.  I’m not into sexualizing breast cancer so that people can look cute on Facebook.  And maybe this is off base but it seemed that the whole stunt was so that people could have an open forum to talk about their underwear.  Whatever man, talk about your super cute bra and panty set all you want- I know I do- but  just don’t do it in the name of “raising awareness” for a disease that’s killing women every day.  

I get the argument that people don’t want to be doomsday all the time about breast cancer and many argue that these Facebook statuses and the “Save 2nd Base” campaign are creative, fun ways to get people to pay attention.  But what are you getting them to pay attention to?  Do you really want people to Save 2nd Base?  Or do you want them to save the person that 2nd Base is attached to?  I know there a lot of breast cancer survivors that really like and participate in these campaigns- and if they find them empowering, then that’s truly awesome.  However, I feel like there are just as many women who find that all the pink accessories, all the cutesy and sexy slogans are trivializing breast cancer and trivializing, and even infantilizing, the real women that struggle with it every day.

 

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