Blog Love: I Blame the Patriarchy
Screenshot from Think Before You Pink
It’s October, which means it’s time for the Corporate Group Wank for the Cure, brought to you in several selfless—but ever so sassy—shades of Pepto pink.
Says I Blame the Patriarchy:
If you were to ask any space alien—who happened to be dropping by on its way to the Delta Quadrant—about breast cancer, it would undoubtedly tell you that, according to its personal observations, the primary symptom of the disease is a dramatically increased propensity to sprout pink teddy bears, pink visors, and pink rhinestone jewelry. Of course you and I know that infantilizing misogynist teddybear rhinestone pinkness, cancer-o-normative though it may seem, is actually just one of the most successful campaigns in the history of marketing gimmicks. Thanks to unprecedented support in terms of cash and selfless volunterrorism, breast cancer is currently the most popular disease in America. …
But where’s the activism? The ostensible focus of all this pseudo-philanthropic pink jockeying is a kind of nebulous breast cancer ‘awareness’, rather than any serious effort at prevention or investigation into what actually causes breast cancer in the first place. Furthermore, once all this ‘awareness’ has produced, via mammography outreach programs or self-exam propaganda (both masquerading as ‘prevention’), a positive diagnosis, there’s not any great push to secure treatment for underserved women.
In other words, when you think of a breast cancer ‘survivor’, you don’t picture a poor black grandmother living in squalor without health insurance (and you certainly don’t imagine a woman who, because of sensible research efforts, never got cancer in the first place.) The Breast Cancer Brand woman is a pro-patriarchy white chick: middle-class, straight, virtuous, concerned with maintaining her femininity, and married with two above-average kids. Ordinarily she’d be content with her life as the unassuming, unpaid family caregiver, but she’s forced by circumstances to be plucky, brave, and heroic.
Something Twisty didn’t bring up is the cost of the marketing blitzes behind these sudden fits of altruism. According to Think Before You Pink:
In a 2005 PR Week article, 3M touted that its 2004 breast cancer awareness effort, involving a 70-foot-tall ribbon made of Post-it Notes in Times Square, reached more than 3 million people and increased sales 80 percent over expectations. The article reports that 3M spent $500,000 on the marketing campaign (no actual numbers on profits were released), but only gave a little over half of that amount ($300,000) to the cause.
Well now.
The point I’m trying to make is, unless you’re buying something you would have purchased anyway (instead of being strong-armed by the nefarious Pink Juggernaut), forget about squirreling away those yogurt lids and make an online donation directly into the coffers of the breast-cancer organization or charity of your choice, instead. And, really, will flashing your poorly lit knockers on a cheap $19.95 Webcam do anything other than titillate, dehumanize, and objectify? Don’t wait up for me to get back to you on that one.
Another kvetch: Men get breast cancer, too. But I’m guessing the white male supremacists of the world aren’t ready for the celebration of full-on man boobage quite yet.
Wimps.
azgoddess said,
October 2, 2006 at 6:11 pm
wow - nice to finally meet you…well, of sorts
someone put a link to your blog in mine…
good point about support charities directly…but please not the american cancer society - they have refused to look at preventives and herbal remedies…breast cancer is preventable
let’s support the researchers directly…
thissinglespark said,
October 3, 2006 at 2:36 pm
Also check out the California Program for Breast Cancer Research and the Environmental Working Group . And a new book was just released on this very topic called Pink Ribbons, Inc. by Dr. Samantha King .
Odd timing… this is my thesis topic (more or less) and suddenly it seems to be everywhere. Or maybe that’s just because I’m noticing it now??
Oh, sorry, just thought of a few more good resources:
Chasing the Cancer Answer Documentary -http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/health/cancer/
Article - http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/08/23/cancer-fundraising.html
Resource - http://leas.ca/CancerSmart-Consumer-Guide.htm
thissinglespark said,
October 3, 2006 at 2:41 pm
One more thing. I promise this it is because I seriously could go on all day. The Susan G. Komen Foundation, the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute all have direct and/or indirect links to the chemical industry. Wanna know why they are talkin’ cure and not prevention?
rebecca said,
October 3, 2006 at 7:30 pm
great post, and thanks so much for blogging on think before you pink!
breast cancer action also just launched a new campaign called answers wanted. because after 20+ years of breast cancer awareness months and billions spent on research, there still aren’t answers to women’s most basic questions at the time of diagnosis! (online at http://www.bcaction.org/answerswanted)
Gina said,
October 4, 2006 at 11:10 am
Great thoughts, yes. I’ve often wondered: what sort of pollution and or resource damage was wrought to make those flashy items? Are some made of plastics and PVC, which create cancer-causing chemicals in production and destruction? A completely hypocritical way to “fight” cancer. In the “race for a cure” not much emphasis seems to go to research and discussions environmental causes.
An amazing scientist and author, Sandra Steingraber, talks about the really frightening collection of toxins that ends up in breasts and breast milk in her book “Having Faith”. Check it out!
green LA girl » Fair trade month: The hype and the real deal said,
October 10, 2006 at 2:30 am
[...] This doesn’t end with fair trade. The Worsted Witch writes about those pink goods, the sales of which ostensibly go towards combating breast cancer. [...]
The Worsted Witch » Red or Dead: News Roundup said,
October 18, 2006 at 11:11 am
[...] Related article: Think Before You Pink [...]
The Worsted Witch » Save Darfur said,
November 27, 2006 at 2:57 pm
[...] Another creative strategy in response to the crisis: Eyes on Darfur is a collaborative effort among artists and crafters on Etsy.com to raise money and awareness for the people of Darfur. All proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders. Of course, it’s always more pragmatic to donate directly to the charity of your choice, but if you’re going to buy something anyway, it couldn’t hurt to make your purchase count. [...]
The Worsted Witch » said,
March 7, 2007 at 5:27 pm
[...] Brilliant! It’s what I’ve been saying all along—give more, buy less. Check out BuyLessCrap.com. Something else I’ve come across: Project Red has spent as much as a reported $100 million on advertising and promotion, but has raised only $18 million to fight AIDS in Africa. This makes me more sad than mad, I suppose. [via One Change and Green LA Girl respectively] [...]