It’s October, which means that it’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. Last year, on the blog, I promised to donate a dollar for every unique comment on my cancer post.
This year, I’m doing it again.
I saw, on twitter, and elsewhere criticisms of similar campaigns, asking why it’s necessary to ask for comments: why not just donate?
To be clear, I do donate. I give my dollars and my time to the work of various cancer and breast cancer organizations. In fact, I’m running again in May, as Team Captain, for Komen’s Race for the Cure in honor of my grandmother (you can make a tax deductible contribution here).
This is a cause that I am passionate about. And I do *get* the criticisms about making it a spectacle. But here’s why I do it: I want to make a spectacle. I want to cause a commotion. I want you to think about cancer.
Last year, I was particularly struck by this an article written by Karen Heller of the Inquirer, critical of the whole Pink for October campaign. I wrote her a letter in response, which I’m posting here (edited for brevity):
I read your column each week and often agree with your observations about children, commercialism and culture. However, this week, I feel compelled to write to you because I think you missed the mark in your article on breast cancer.
My grandmother died of breast cancer. You’re right in saying that it is not a pretty disease. My grandmother’s cancer spread to her lungs. I watched her die. Literally. My mother and I were with my grandmother in her house when she took her last breath. It was a horrible, terrible way to die.
…
You are not the first person that I have heard criticize the "pinking" of October. I’ve heard it a lot, and I respectfully disagree. Is it commercial? Of course it is. This is, after all, America, and if a capitalist can find a way to make a buck no matter what the occasion, he or she will. It has become "cool" to wear Lance Armstrong Foundation bracelets and AIDS ribbons. At the end of the day, does that take away from the good that it does? I don’t think so. …I don’t think that you can be too aware. And, despite your statements in your column, I do think it promotes awareness.
Every time that I see my pink ribbon, I think about my grandmother… And then I think about the fact that more than 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year alone. They are grandmothers, mothers, sisters, daughters, family friends… As a woman and as a mother of three children, how can I not promote awareness of a detectable, and often curable, disease that affects women in such huge numbers?
So, at the end of the day, while I agree with you that there’s a whole lot of pink going on, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Awareness might mean that one more woman gets a mammogram, or asks the doctor what that lump is. And it might save a life. Isn’t that worth a little pink now and again?
With that in mind, here’s my little bit of pink on the blog today. Like last year, for October, in honor of my grandmother, I’m making a donation to Susan G. Komen For the Cure. I’ll donate $1 for every unique comment (meaning, not spam) on this post. You can just say hi, ask me a tax question, chat about tax policy or leave the name of someone close to you that was diagnosed with breast cancer – heck, you can even tell me how much you love the Phillies! (Actually, after the game last night, you can especially tell me how much you love the Phillies!)
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breast cancer, Komen
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