Definition of pinkwashing—the practice of attempting to benefit from purported support for breast cancer awareness. It implies that the purported support is not genuine and likely does not support the cause.
For the last 20 years or so, October has been designated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. During October, we see lots of products changed to pink, from yogurt to cars to T-shirts and jewelry. They all claim to have the mission of promoting awareness and research for breast cancer.
In reality, the vast majority of those products are simply playing on your emotions. The only promotion that actually happens is more profit for the companies, with no real contributions to funding breast cancer detection, treatment, or research.
And I am hopping mad over it!
I am not angry with the average consumer who truly believes they are helping to raise awareness and research funding because the product is pink. I am furious with all of the companies and vendors who do this just to profit from your emotions!
Not All Breast Cancer Is Pink
As I have learned over the past two years, there are many more shades to breast cancer than pink. Awareness and early detection have been promoted ad nauseam by various organizations and companies and news outlets for years. Honestly, how many people are NOT aware of breast cancer and don’t think of anything but breast cancer when they see pink in October!
What we need is awareness of the financial and long-term health impacts that breast cancer causes. We need to shout from the rooftops that metastatic breast cancer (Stage 4) is underfunded for treatment and research.
We need to advocate for CHANGE.
Early detection is vital to finding breast cancer before it progresses, but if you are under the age of 40, it’s like climbing Mt. Everest to get a mammogram. The insurance companies will deny the request for a $500 test, and by the time a doctor takes the patient’s condition seriously and demands testing, the cancer has progressed beyond a lumpectomy or mastectomy.
The insurers are refusing to pay $500 for a mammogram, $5,000 for a biopsy, if needed, and five years’ worth of treatments that may cost around $1 million. So now they are going to pay around $1 million PER YEAR to treat advanced breast cancer.
If you think I’m exaggerating, I assure you I am NOT. I have a small group of about 40 metastatic breast cancer warriors locally, and five of them were under age 35 when they were diagnosed. They waited an average of one year from their initial complaint until they finally got a mammogram, and now the cancer has spread to other organs.
These warriors are still raising young families, working, and now living with lifelong treatment of a disease that should have been caught way earlier.
My favorite colors are now teal, pink, and green—the colors for the metastatic breast cancer ribbon.
Teal symbolizes healing and spirituality. Green represents renewal, hope, and immortality. Pink signifies that the cancer originated in the breast. So that ribbon represents that we are trying to live for healing and renewal, as this disease is now with us for the rest of our lives.
I need to endlessly advocate for better quality of life and research funding to identify more effective treatments that won’t kill us before the cancer does. My message is going to be heard from Lewisville, Texas, to Washington, D.C., until our policies change and we can get the $500 test needed to identify cancer before it spreads.
Will you join me in my fight? Please? If yes, one way to do so is to support organizations like METAvivor, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, and the American Cancer Society.
And DON’T buy something pink in October until you can verify that at least 25% of the sale price is being donated back to a meaningful organization!
By doing all of this for me and others, you can go forth and be exceptional with your support!
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