I love boobs. I'm a guy, so I'm a fan-- in fact, I've always been a fan- and now have (along with the perfect wife) a very nice set of boobs to enjoy forever (if I've been a good boy and the wife is feeling nice-)- so life, needless to say, is wonderful. So I can get behind the concept of supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month without any hesitation whatsoever. I even have a t-shirt somewhere that proudly declares: 'Save The Ta-Ta's!' And yea, verily, I think they should be saved.
And you know what? I like my moobs too. They're there, they're not gross and droopy and they haven't gotten any bigger lately- so I'm a fan of my moobies. I'd like to preserve them as well, if it all possible. (Lest we forget, gentlemen- breast cancer isn't just for the ladies.) What I have to scratch my head and wonder about is just how much support can one give to the idea of breast cancer awareness- and more importantly, where is this money going?
The whole 'pink' for breast cancer awareness seems to have taken on a life of its own. Back in the day, when I was younger and more foolish, you saw people with ribbons, maybe an earlier precursor to a Livestrong bracelet and, of course, YoPlait and their pink lids. Today, however, pink has exploded. Not only can one get a pink upright vacuum (an Oreck no less.) to support breast cancer, but you can get Kitchen Aid brand kitchen ware and Target apparently has pink gloves and tool sets- and there are even pink upright brooms you can get. And it's been awhile, but I'd swear blind the last time I was in Hy-Vee, I saw something that could very well have been a pink accented case of Bud Light. All to support breast cancer awareness.
And then, there's today... if you're watching an NFL game today, surely you've noticed. Pink accented gloves, pink armbands, pink caps-- pink everywhere. Sure, they tried to 'man it up' a little bit by making it a 'darker, cooler' shade of pink- but nevertheless, it's still pink. And yes, kids, it too it to support breast cancer awareness.
Now, I may be a horrible person for asking this question- but I feel like somebody should: why? I mean, I think it's great the amount of work the NFL does for things like the United Way and the general concept for getting children off of their asses and running around- but breast cancer awareness? Really? Plus- how much pink shit do we really need? And how much of that money is going to actual, real-live breast cancer research? Is a buying a Pink Oreck going to save a life somehow? These are all pressing questions in my mind currently... because I think the issue of breast cancer awareness is a good thing. Breast cancer kills a lot of our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, wives, daughters- and even husbands, fathers, sons and brothers every year. We should be raising money to find a cure for this thing. Absolutely.
But the over-consumerization (yea, that's right- I wrote that word, suckas!) of the issue risks, I think a couple of things: first of all, burnout. I'm sorry, but pink vacuum cleaners just piss me right off. Do these people think that I've forgotten about breast cancer? Really? There's a risk, if you assault the senses too much that people will just stop giving a shit, because they've now got Shermin-Williams Brand Pink paint in every single room of their house, pink Martha Stewart furnishings and draperies and a pink Tempur-Pedic Mattress to boot. And I'm willing to bet, if we let pink run amuck long enough we could actually get to that situation someday. (Oh and P.S.- I have a sneaking suspicion that if we do get to that point, all that money still won't have found a cure for breast cancer!)
Secondly, there's the itching, burning question: where does all this money go? A cursory google search reveals that there's a wonderful website out there call Think Before You Pink (http://thinkbeforeyoupink.org) that asks some hard questions about where your money goes! Everyone out there who wants to support this issue seriously should peruse this website-- the info on it may surprise you.
FInally, I got end with these two little nuggets of thought that are swirling around in my brain: first, although again, yay to the NFL for caring- I gotta ask: given the paucity of breasts in the NFL, would it not perhaps make a little more sense to give a shout-out to a cancer that does affect men- although not in anywhere near the same ways as breast cancer- give a shout out for testicular cancer! After all, one of the first rules of football is that if you've got the ball on offense, then you've got to protect the ball, er, balls... something like that.
Secondly, the thought wanders through my brain: if breast cancer killed more men than women, who wants to bet that we'd have a cure for it already?
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