Unless you are living under a rock, albeit painted pink, you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Social media sites are awash in pink photos. Everyone from N.F.L. football players to everyday moms are donning pink sneakers and stepping out to raise awareness and funds for numerous causes. Pink parties with pink cupcakes and punch and balloons and branded pink gifts are being hosted coast to coast. And pink is showing up on Delta airplanes, Minnesota National Guard army tanks, scooters and drill bits. Men don pink tutus for videos and pink ties for more conservative appearances. Women wear bejeweled pink bras and bracelets, boas and hairpieces to march and everyone wears pink ribbons.
As a breast cancer survivor and health advocate I support a number of national and grassroots causes, especially those that give direct support for patients. Having been down that road I know research is important for long term gain, but when you are facing life and death decisions about your health and possible loss of a body part, worrying about how to pay non-reimbursed medical bills and make ends meet, and striving to manage a “new normal” for you and your family… down the road seems really far away.
I’m glad so many people, companies and the media give Breast Cancer Awareness Month so much attention. Many people have criticized companies for “pinkwashing,” using breast cancer awareness as a public relations activity to reach that important target market: women. As a marketing professional, I get that message and have always counseled clients to build solid and meaningful charitable partnerships and not one-night stands.
Cynics call October “Pinktober.” I am not a cynic. I like to see women’s health receive the attention because women do not always put their own health first, and they should. But I feel a little sad when October ends only because many companies and journalists redirect their attention to other “seasonal causes” that sell their products and newspapers, viewers and ratings. Breast cancer is a 365 day occurrence with one in eight women diagnosed and 40,000 deaths annually. When the pink parties are over for everyone else, the party’s not over for the women (and men) still facing the disease and hoping to beat it, or living in fear of a recurrence.
I also feel badly for all the other cancer survivors in the world whose diagnosis is not as pretty in pink. Where are their parties? Who is walking for them? What teams are wearing their color?
I wonder: What would have happened if my own diagnosis had been pancreatic cancer, which runs in the paternal side of my family. Breast cancer did not; prostate did…and melanoma. They are all connected to the BRCA2 genetic mutation which I have. The personal outcome for pancreatic cancer is not always “in the pink.” I don’t hear of many parties and ribbons and cute T-shirts for pancreatic cancer. A pancreas isn’t very pretty on a T-shirt, but it’s awfully important to your functioning digestive system. In fact, do you know when Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month is? It’s November. I’m curious to see the level of media attention Pancreatic Cancer Awareness receives.
There is an entire calendar of cancer awareness months and a rainbow of colors. I have friends who wear multiple colors and are doing fine, thank goodness! http://www.choosehope.com/calendar-of-cancer-awareness-months
What really matters more than ribbons and T-shirts, parties, cupcakes and balloons is this: Cancer Prevention. We all can have a role in preventing cancer by starting to take better care of our personal health through a healthier diet, regular exercise, stress management, reducing alcohol intake, eliminating smoking, being aware of changes in and on your body and not ignoring them and making sure your medical exams and records are up-to-date.
That’s a better way to stay “in the pink.”
