The breast cancer culture is not a new conversation that to be trending. Many people have brought to light different scenarios throughout the year of large companies our wealthy people and organizations that are exploiting the charity of others. The idea of breast cancer in itself is a whole economy. There is merchandise, months dedicated to the “awareness” of it, fundraisers, different treatment options, sales, the list continues. All though it may have started out as a good thing, greed has taken over something that could have made a profound difference.

I liked how the video touched on the fact that the media portrays middle class white women to be the primary victims of breast cancer. There is this stained stereotype that white stay-at-home moms in there 40’s and 50’s, who live in suburbs, and are very feminine make up the majority of the population affected by breast cancer. This stereotype is only further perpetrated through the media. The media outlets then direct their advertisement campaigns and merchandise towards this specific group of women. It can really limit the women who feel validated in their struggle with this disease to one specific group or limit the women who think they can be affected by breast cancer. There is no winning when targeting a specific group of women to market to, especially when marketing off of a potentially fatal disease.

There is also so much money being “raised” or campaigned for this disease, yet there is little to no question as to the fine print of where the money is going or how much is actually being donated. The video also touched on the fact that companies and organizations market to people who are willing to give a significant amount of money yet they don’t read into the fine print of how much of that money is actually going to the cause. The article in The Lancet also talked about the fact that money thatput into research doesn’t automatically equate a cure. That maybe money put into improving the lives of the women suffering from breast cancer, or to help them during their treatments would end up being more beneficial in the long run. This ties into the eco-feminist idea of not focusing on the cure but the cause. This idea stems from the fact that breast cancer has to come from somewhere, so there should be a focus on stopping it from even occurring in the first place.

Ultimately it should all be about the victims of breast cancer. There needs to be a focus on making sure the victims are feeling validated, and that their emotions are recognized. Some women may really like the idea of feminizing with the pink ribbon and there is nothing wrong with that. Some women may want to feel more empowered and unstoppable. Many women just need that spark of hope to keep them going. In her article, Ley touched on the trickling effects of breast cancer movements; whether or not an individual becomes a big movement advocate, as long as it gave them motivation to keep pushing forward, in the end it’s worth it no matter the outcome. While you hope finding the cause or cure of breast cancer is each organizations main focus, spreading hope and encouragement and building a community for women who are struggling is something many people can benefit from.