A Spring of Joy

Most of us have seen it. Facebook being taken over by color. Bra color that is. In an effort to raise awareness, women all over facebook are writing their bra colors in their statuses. What?

I’m pretty speechless by it all.

(I won’t go into my issues with modesty and how on earth it benefits us to announce to the world the details of our intimate undergarments. I won’t go into how my husband doesn’t need to know what color someone other than me is wearing. Have we become so desensitized by Victoria’s Secret commercials? Commercials that find my husband bowing his head discreetly and me scrambling for our remote, I might add. Oh, wait, I said I wouldn’t go into it… )

Okay. Awareness. I’m sure there are survivors and battlers out there who think this is wonderful and a great marketing strategy. Let’s get the word out!

“Something fun is going on. Write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color, nothing else. And send this on to ONLY women no men. It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before the men wonder why the women have a color in their status…..LOL!”

I appreciate the heart and the motive behind it, and I think the original sentiment behind it was to encourage women to do exams. However, once again, it has been distorted into a fun game to raise awareness.

As a survivor, here’s my take.

Breast cancer has become the most glorified cancer. I saw one person call it the “captain of the cheer squad of cancers“. Breast cancer, no, ALL cancer, is awful. It is brutal. It is death in your body. It mutilates you. It leaves you and your loved ones scarred in every possible way.

“Good,” we say, “Let’s get the word out. If it’s so bad, let’s raise awareness.”

Can I just ask what raising awareness does if it doesn’t DO anything effective? So, we’re more aware of it. Yes, we are. Every October the U.S. looks like it threw up pink. Believe me, I think we’re aware.

But I wonder…

How has putting bra colors on facebook done anything to help eradicate the disease? When you put the color on your status, did you check for lumps? Did you write a check to the Susan G. Komen foundation? Did you sign up for a cancer walk/run? Did you put a pile of hats in a box to donate to cancer patients who are bald? Did you think about some of the women out there who will never be able to wear leopard print again because their bodies have been too mutilated? Did it educate you about the disease? Did you pray for someone who has it? Did it move you to act?

Or was it just a fun way to get the word out?

Cancer. is. not. fun.

I appreciate the heart. Now let’s go DO something about the disease.