Today's post about nothing is also about the commericiaization of breast cancer awareness, and why it offends me as a heterosexual male and lover of lady lumps.
Enjoy...(or ignore, either way it's here now)
* fittedwearer's note: Let me start this off by saying I have no vendetta against breasts or the saving of them through cancer research. In fact, as a heterosexual male, I think they're pretty damn cool. They can identify a female from a distance, hold some necklaces in place, make a pillow that mankind has yet to adequately duplicate, and when all else fails, double as two very good reasons to love
my girlfriend . In fact, I'm probably the biggest supporter of them since sports bras, and as you will soon see, it is precisely this sentiment that leads me to write today's post. Let us begin.
In case you're colorblind or something, you've probably noticed a lot of pink items around lately. Pink shirts, pink hats, pink cleats and gloves on NFL players...I even noticed the President wearing one of those pink gel wristbands somewhat subtly tucked under jacket and sleeve during
the debates recently. Rose-colored ribbons decorate the everything--yes, the everything--in observation of Breast Cancer Awareness month. It seems that companies and other groups everywhere are producing pink paraphernalia to raise awareness and money, and it's all going to breast cancer research and the foundations that support them. I think that's great.
Well, that was a short post.
Wait, that's not what's going on at all, is it?. Upon further review, my ruling is overturned...I think that sucks ***.
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Of course, there are those entities who are doing the right thing, using their name and market presence to promote awareness of a horrible disease that needs a cure yesterday. More commonly, it's just the saddest of cash grabs...corporations just printing up a bunch of Pepto-colored **** that they just happen to sell in the month of October, the proceeds being donated directly into the profit margin. They might donate some token percentage like 10 or 15 percent to the cancer fighters, but that means the rest of it is a net gain made from breast cancer.
Large profits are being generated from merchandise related to a near-incurable human flesh destroying disease. If that's not ****** up, there's no appropriate usage of the phrase.
Somewhere between the first pink-icing breast cancer awareness bake sale and special-edition 5 Hour Energy Pink Lemonade and Breast Cancer flavor, people have lost sight of where the awareness belongs. They're not even promoting breast cancer awareness using their product any more, they're promoting their products using breast cancer awareness. It's like the American flag post 9/11...thanks to different companies pimping the flag for profit, even if you were stricken with soap opera-level amnesia it was utterly impossible to not know what country you were in at any point from then until around 2006. It's happening more and more, and it really makes me sick.
I mean, it's not like I was born yesterday. I know that everything that can possibly be commericalized--love, sex, medicine, marriage,
religious holidays, acheivements personal and professional--somehow will be. It's an unfortunate reality of the capitalist society and consumer culture in which we live...but damn, isn't there some kind of line? Are we really to the point where feigning interest in human suffering to move merchandise is an acceptable thing to do? It seems the solution to boost sales in the 3 days between the summer spending season and the holiday shopping rush is to slap a pink ribbon on something. It's
inactivism of the most heinous kind...the kind with trendy, profitable souvenirs.
You really want to let people know you're down for the cause, Corporate America? Donate all--not "some", not "a portion", not "a percentage", all--the proceeds to the research. Sure, keep enough to generate more product that you can repeat the process as needed, but if you really cared, you would care all the way. Hell, there should be a law requiring that companies disclose the actual percentage of profits donated to the good fight just as loudly as they tout their involvement in the first place. Of course, if that was the case, a lot less corporations would concern themselves with the pink posturing...and I'm not sure it's not better that way. (Maybe people could even forego the overpriced ribbon'd product du jour and donate directly to the foundations, but that's asking for a lot, I know.)
Like I said, I have no problem with the concept. I'd like breast cancer to be cured just as soon as anyone else, and I think raising money and awareness (is there anybody really left who isn't aware of breast cancer...and how some extremely unlucky men can get it too, in case you didn't know?) for such an important cause is worthy of the highest praise. However, I also think raising money and awareness for yourself and just kinda giving breast cancer research a cut is worthy of equal condemnation...because when we're talking about *******, I take it very personally.
