Breast Cancer Awareness

I am going to rant here. I absolutely cannot stand getting inbox messages on facebook saying, "it's that time of year, again" and the email be all about breast cancer awareness. I especially wonder why I got several of them in JANUARY when October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. What bothers me about these messages is that they are trite. They are ridiculous and have nothing to do with breast cancer awareness.

Why do I say that? Really? Posting a status about where you leave your purse does nothing more than put a sexual innuendo on the subject. Saying you are going to a foreign country for so many months just makes people think you have something super exciting going on and they get all excited for you. The worst one, in my opinion was the one that led people to believe others were pregnant. Imagine how heartbroken some older woman was when she saw her daughter post that thinking she was finally going to be a grandmother. Or imagine the horror some dad felt when he saw his daughter in her freshman year of college posted it.

Then, you have the whole, "don't tell the guys about it" part of the emails. Really?! Why? Do men not have breasts? Do they not get breast cancer? I mean, I agree women will not be getting prostate exams in the near future, but, men DO get breast cancer and they NEED to be aware of that fact.

I think these emails are a silly, pointless way of getting attention. I honestly believe that the only reason they have kept going for so long is because ONE of them (the one about bra colors) got national attention. It got media press. So, of course, people had to jump on the bandwagon. We are so competitive we have to find new ways to outdo each other. If that involves thinking of a new email to send out, then so be it. Imagine what would happen if those creative talents were ACTUALLY put to work for REAL efforts toward breast cancer awareness.

My grandmother had breast cancer. My mom has had several cancerous places removed from her skin. My grandfather has had prostate cancer. I am all about awareness. I have a "fight like a girl" hat. Why? Because the money I spent went towards research. Do you REALLY want to raise awareness for breast cancer? Don't do it through an innuendo-filled email. Do it OUT LOUD! Do it in public. Talk to people, buy the shirts, walk/run a marathon, just, please, if you have any respect for me, do NOT fill my inbox with something I am not going to do.