BCA Month is a huge deal to me, ok? My grandmother is a breast cancer survivor who had a double mastectomy when I was in elementary school. She uses the special bra inserts now to mimic the shape of breasts (and makes a lot of jokes about her "puppies" and the freedom she has to change her cup size depending on the occasion), but has totally beaten the cancer. (Kicked it right in the butt. My grandma is awesome.)
But it definitely hurts me to see the "Pinkification" of our world at this time of year. On the surface, Breast Cancer "Awareness" sounds like a good idea! And it might make you feel a little better to know that money you spend goes towards some nebulous idea of a cause. But focusing on the cute, pink accessories and the boobies instead of the people who have this incredibly destructive cancer minimizes their suffering and replaces it with sanitized consumerism. And besides, who does "awareness" even help?
Susan G Komen for the Cure, possibly the biggest name in Pink Stuff For Breast Cancer Reasons, had some pretty big controversy plop into their (pink!!!) laps in January of 2012 when they decided that they'd no longer be funding Planned Parenthood's preventative Breast Cancer efforts. The backlash was rightfully huge—PP helps people all across the country with their preventative care, and as the controversy unfolded it became pretty clear that Komen's decision was motivated by anti-choice politics—and SGK ended up folding, refunding PP, and hiding their (pink!!!) tail between their (pink!!!) legs (More about this from Jezebel, who covered the whole thing!). This was when I first got a clue about how little actual prevention and care mattered to these people. Barely 5% of their millions of dollars towards treatment on a yearly basis, while the CEO makes almost $700,000 a year. And have you seen some of the "pink" merchandise?? A bucket of fried chicken and a perfume that contains carcinogens??
But more egregious than that disaster, to me, is the sexualization of the disease that could have killed my grandmother. "I Heart Boobies," "Save Second Base," "Save the Tatas," and "Motorboating for the Cure" are all examples of this, which I will not link to. Instead, here's one of my favorite feminist vlogger's take on things:
Angelina hit it right on the head! This sexualization, and the act of treating the breasts as the most important part of breast cancer, can be taken to pretty dangerous extremes that hurt survivors, and I'm tired of people cashing in on my grandma.
