save the breasts

So they've been doing this thing on Facebook. Women are supposed to post the color of the bra they are wearing in their status. It is supposed to raise awareness about breast cancer. And it is also supposed to confuse men, which if you are a woman, you realize isn't really that hard to do. But that is neither here nor there. I posted the color of mine. It was grey. Not because I hadn't done laundry or anything. It's just grey. I wasn't really thinking about anything when I posted the color. I don't usually respond the the Farmville or heart requests, they don't interest me. But being a breast cancer survivor, I posted my status.

Then I read an article by a woman names Donna Trussell. She writes for Politics Daily. She made some interesting arguments as to why the whole campaign made her mad. One of her points is that she has friends who have battled the disease, who can no longer wear bras because they no longer have breasts. Now it may be a little short sighted to even remark about that. It was just a fun little thing that a bunch of women on Facebook wanted to do. No one, I'm sure set out to hurt the feelings of women who have suffered through this disease, of which I am one. Or to single out women who have lost their breast to it, which by God's grace I have not. In a country that has lots of freedom, we are pretty good at telling each other how we should or shouldn't do something as it might inflict hurt feelings on someone else. Most of the women I know are pretty strong individuals. Most do not take everything they hear or read personally. But I have on occasion, hurt someone I love with a flip remark or statement when I fail to realize the magnitude of the situation they are going through.

The other issue is the "pink" one. It does seem that everywhere you turn you can buy something with a pink ribbon on it. Socks and sweatshirts to gum and breath mints. Why is there so much recognition of and air time for the discussion of breast cancer and seemingly not of other cancers? I work with a girl who had ovarian cancer. I remember her saying to me that she felt left out of all the fundraising and awareness because her cancer wasn't as "popular" as breast cancer. At first I thought she was being kind of whiny. But the more you think about it, she has a point. And so is Donna Trussell. There shouldn't be a color for every cancer. It makes it seem like a competition. You play for the team your color / cancer dictates. It is not a game. It is a war. We should all be on the same side, fighting for the same outcome. Winning the battles that will ultimately help win the war. We shouldn't be fighting to save the breasts. We should be fighting to save the women. And the men, no matter how easy they are to confuse.