I agree with the article in that the pink ribbon represents everything that is wrong with how the world views women. They believe that the color pink represents softness or is considered feminine because it has always been considered a color that girls like to wear. The traditional male and female signs are pink for girls and blue for boys and a new baby’s room is supposed to depict those same colors. It seems like since the beginning of time the color pink was meant to be a color for girls and is now the symbol for breast cancer. I really enjoyed the image and descriptions of Catherine Freeman’s new design of a coil moon to symbolize women warriors (Ley, 2009). This is the perfect way to depict a breast cancer victim, as a warrior who is fighting with all she has against this horrible illness. The pink ribbon symbolizes a breast cancer patient as soft and weak, just like the color pink was supposed to represent a little girl. Moreover, I find it kind of insulting that people profit off of the color pink. Wristbands, T-shirts, and other goodies are all promoting what is wrong with the breast cancer symbol.
While I do agree that it is important to make people aware of breast cancer and that it is necessary to broadcast about it so that those suffering can gain more support, it is that same commercialization that harms the people who have breast cancer more than it helps. I agree with Ehrenreich in that media and television does promote using makeup and wigs to cover up the markings left through chemotherapy, which is not the message we are trying to send (Ley, 2009). I agree that instead of encouraging them to spend money on beauty products that they do not need at all, they should invest their time and efforts into advocating for research on environmental aspects on what causes the disease (Ley, 2009). If I had breast cancer, I would want to know what aspects of the environment caused my illness.
Another negative aspect of mainstream breast cancer culture would be the fact that it depicts the experience of going through breast cancer in a positive light. For example, cancer movies romanticize getting cancer in that it comes with some fairy tale prince along with the illness. The movies almost make people who watch the movies wish they had some terrible disease just so they will find love too. However, I do disagree with Ehrenreich when she stated that her cancer experience did not make her stronger anyway (Ley, 2009). I believe that coming out of the experience does make a person stronger in some ways. Maybe physically the person will feel weak at first, but, in my opinion, the emotional trauma that a person suffers when they go through a cycle of security about their life would have to make them mentally stronger. This is also why I think replacing the common pink ribbon symbol with a warrior breast plate would be a great idea. Mainstream breast cancer culture does get one thing right and it is that the women suffering are strong enough to be considered warriors.
Work Cited
Ley, B. L. (2009). From pink to green: Disease prevention and the environmental breast cancer movement. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
I really enjoyed reading your blog post on the mainstream breast cancer culture because you raised some interesting points that I didn’t think of. First, I agree with your explanation of the pink ribbon because they’re many different colors that could represent this movement. However, I disagree that the goodies being sold are wrongfully promoting breast cancer because I believe these items show survivors that people are supporting them through this experience. When I see someone wearing these items I believe their intentions are supportive whether they realize these items might be insulting to survivors. On the other hand, I do agree that people profit off the breast cancer movement because Ley mentions pinkwashing is used by many companies to gain new clients, which is what I find insulting as well. Another interesting point you raised was the movement in regard to movies. I never realized how movies always show the ill person falling in love and living happily ever after, which isn’t the case for most people. Why do you think movie directors do this knowing this isn’t an accurate representation and insults survivors?