gl.

hello

i am an unrequited astronomer, pretend patient, gentle adventurer, pedal enthusiast, recovering calligrapher, occasional thespian and unfinished poet living in portland, oregon. contacting me via email is usually a good idea.

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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

1:01 AM: aware [#] [4]

in case you didn't know, october is both "national breast cancer awareness month" and "domestic violence awareness month." i'll bet you only knew about one of them. i prefer to operate from an abundance model, which means i shouldn't be jealous of all the pink-toned merchandise that funnels money into breast cancer research, but if even a fraction of the money that money supported domestic violence response services, places like the portland women's crisis line wouldn't have to scrape by. domestic violence (& rape) is certainly more prevalent than breast cancer, so why does breast cancer get all the attention?

Comments:

I suspect the answer to your question is: Because it's easier for mainstream society to give money to the "women's health problem" than to the "gays' health problem". It seems to me that in the early 90s the pink ribbon presented uncomfortable consciences with an cause that was more palatable than the red ribbon.

Not to say that breast cancer doesn't deserve lots of attention... Although, I grit my teeth somewhat around this issue, since the "cure" is largely a matter of removing environmental carcinogens. And, ironically, the major corporate sponsor for "Race for the Cure" is a massive polluter. Hm.

Btw: October also has National Coming Out Day, which tends to spread out across the whole month.

# posted by

Anonymous : Wed Oct 25, 01:54:00 AM PDT

Marketing, gl. Because the vast majority of the money for all the pink stuff does NOT go to breast cancer research. Take the $15 bucks you (the universal you, not the specific) are about to spend on that pink windshield-ice-scraper and donate it directly. These programs started out with good intentions, but have long since crossed the line to exploitation of the consumer culture's colllective charity-guilt.

Wow. And that from a borderline Repbulican, too!
MM

# posted by

Anonymous : Wed Oct 25, 02:01:00 PM PDT

Also I think domestic violence is something somebody is individually responsible for, where illness is something indefinite. You can and you must blame a person for abuse, which makes outsiders uncomfortable in ways cancer does not.

# posted by

Carl Caputo : Thu Oct 26, 04:28:00 PM PDT

oh, that's a good one, carl.

'lope: i didn't know you classified yourself as a borderline republican! what does that mean to you? you're right about the marketing: it was a brilliant move to license that shade of pink.

# posted by

gl. : Thu Oct 26, 11:27:00 PM PDT