Breast Cancer Awareness Crap

This post is my official celebration of the end of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Finally, an end to all of the pointless, distracting, and misleading campaigns that claim to provide an end to breast cancer.

First, let's consider this thought from breast cancer survivor and feminist blogger Twisty Faster:

"My fucking problem is the popular belief that the greater the obsequiousness with which the breast cancerettes comply with the infantilizing femininity mandate, the prettier they’ll feel, and the less likely they’ll be to drop dead at any moment...You wanna cut a breast cancer patient a break? Let her know that the pink self-esteem injunction is a crock of shit, and that attempts to solicit approval from patriarchal authority won’t smite a single cancer cell." - Breast Cancer Awareness Month Finally Over: Retailers Descend Into Funk

Not only do breast cancer awareness campaigns contribute to the myth that devoting yourself to femininity will cure you of your diseases, they're also downright wasteful. The pollution that they cause actually makes women more likely to develop breast cancer than they would if they didn't buy a bunch of plastic crap. In the words of eco blogger The Worsted Witch:

"'There are some products that have a pink ribbon on them, but might actually be contributing to the disease by producing toxins that have been linked to breast cancer,' Katrina Kahl, a communications associate at the San Francisco-based Breast Cancer Action, tells TreeHugger. She points out auto companies that encourage people to test drive their latest hot rods by doling cash to a breast-cancer group for every mile driven. 'At the same time, car exhaust actually contains chemicals that are linked to the disease,' she says. 'So it's a little ironic to encourage people to test drive a car for breast cancer, knowing that what's coming at the other end of the tailpipe is actually contributing to people getting the disease.'" - Think Before Your Fall For Cause-Related Marketing

So let's all take a nice deep breath and focus on the real way to solve breast cancer - prevention - rather than ponying up a bunch of dough for "cures" that are self-defeating in the end. Goodbye October!