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The Return of the Pink

Ugh, it's that time of year again: The time when every building and fountain in Philadephia is lit up with pink. Stores sell bears in pink t-shirts (with a whole $4.50 from your purchase going toward breast cancer charities!) and tea with pink ribbons on the cannister and pink-enameled kitchen appliances. We're urged to buy! buy! buy! in the name of breast cancer.

Here's an idea: If you don't need the teddy bear or the pedicure slippers or the boxing gloves (!), why not make a direct donation to a breast cancer charity? (Link goes to a list of well-run breast cancer charities, as ranked by Charity Navigator.) Even if you give a tiny amount—say, $10 or $20—you're still giving more than you would be by buying most pink-ribbon products. Instead of mailing four pink yogurt lids in to Yoplait (you'd be spending 39 cents on the stamp to give 40 cents to the Susan G. Komen foundation), mail $5 directly to Komen... if Komen is the organization you want to support.

If you really would rather buy a breast health-related product than send money directly to a charity, please consider buying something that doesn't pander with pink. A sepia-toned calendar produced by Breast of Canada is one option. Not a whit of pink in sight, and real, actual breasts on every page. (You'd be surprised how shocking it is to see REAL breasts, after what we're used to seeing in advertisements, on television, and in movies. Seriously: it's shocking. Sue Richards gave me a sample calendar when I met her at BlogHer, so I've seen all the images. This article on the Breast of Canada website gives a good sense of how different this calendar is from the traditional pinup version you'd see in a gas station repair bay.) If nothing else, the calendar will make you appreciate the healthy breasts you have, and help you keep them healthy with reminders and instructions on how to do breast self-exams.

If all this pink makes you angry, as it does me; if all the sweetness and light and positive pinkness seems incongruous with the vomit-inducing toxicity of current cancer treatments; if you find it disconcerting that many breast cancer organizations are sponsored by chemical and pharmaceutical companies; if you want to find out what's CAUSING breast cancer and work to PREVENT it, not just detect and treat it, start by educating yourself, and then take action. Give yourself a breast exam. Eliminate harmful chemicals from your household, and lobby for a cleaner environment for yourself and your children. Whatever you do, don't just shop.