TO THE EDITOR:
You can’t turn anywhere during October without seeing tiny pink ribbons. These pink ribbons didn’t mean much to me until my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. After her diagnosis, she went through a double mastectomy. Ever since, I’ve noticed how organizations claiming to raise awareness are doing so in a way that only focuses on breasts, and by doing that, underhandedly focusing on their sexual allure.
Groups print shirts and bracelets with phrases like “Save The Ta-tas,” or “I Heart Boobies.” These campaigns bring much-needed comic relief, but more than a dash of humor, they bring inherent sexism and objectification of women to the fight against this terrible disease.
Buying a “Save The Ta-Tas” bumper sticker can come from the best intentions, but consider how much support that actually gives to the breast cancer survivor who had to chose between her “ta-tas” and her life. When you focus solely on saving a woman’s breasts, you ignore the woman behind them. And isn’t she the more important thing to save? Isn’t a woman’s worth in much more than just her breasts? Not according to these campaigns.
There are so many better ways to support the fight against breast cancer than implying that the most important thing in this fight is to protect the physical body part. Education on the issue, emotional support for those affected and a commitment to a cure need to be the focus instead of the breasts themselves.
Paige Maconochie ’16
Linguistics
