Melania Trump club

Melania Trump club

Sunday, 16 October 2011

Pinkwashing for breast cancer awareness questioned

‘Work that Core for a Cure”


7 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Oct. 18, Core Pilates & Yoga, The Courtyard Building, third floor, Suite 306, 32 Office Park Road, Hilton Head Island. Free event with donations requested. The all-day event features Pilates mat, reformer equipment and private training sessions with all proceeds being donated to the American Cancer Society for breast cancer research and prevention. For information, call 834-681-4267 or go to workthatcore.com.




OCT. 21


Free Mammogram Screenings
and Pap Tests


Oct. 21, Chatham County Health Department, 1395 Eisenhower Drive. The Chatham County Health Department’s BreasTEST and More program is partnering with the St. Joseph’s/Candler Mobile Mammography Program to offer free mammograms and pap tests in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The services will be offered at both Chatham County Health Department locations. BreasTEST and More is a program that provides breast and cervical cancer screening to low-income, uninsured or underinsured women. Women who are 40 years or older are eligible for the program as well as women aged 35-39 with documented findings suspicious for breast cancer. Proof of income is required to determine eligibility. For information, call 912-651-3025 or 912-651-2999.


OCT. 22


AWWIN PINK Benefit Walk


12 p.m. Oct. 22, Savannah Mall, 14045 Abercorn St. Join the fight with your team and/or sponsorship as AWWIN Inc. proudly presents the AWWIN PINK Walking with a Purpose Breast Cancer Walk. Proceeds will be used to assist low-income women who are taking chemotherapy and preventative education. A portion of the proceeds will also be awarded to two institutions that assist low-income women with mammography. For information, call 912-659-0241 or go to awwinpink.org.


Paint the Pond Pink


9 a.m.-12 p.m. Oct. 22, Baker’s Pond, Springfield. Activities include: Breast cancer education, Effingham Hospital Imaging Center, Group fitness classes and group walks, Effingham YMCA; Survivor Walk at 9:50 a.m.; and “Pink Heals” fire truck and cruiser. Booths provided by local area businesses such as The Purple Cow, JoAnn’s Florist, Johnson’s on 4th and more.




OCT. 24


Habersham Y Goes Pink


9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 24, Habersham YMCA 6400 Habersham St. The Habersham “Y Goes Pink” in honor of breast cancer awareness month. The St. Joseph’s/Candler Mobile Mammography Unit will be providing on-site mammograms (appointment required). A $10 donation will go to the Telfair Pavilion Mammography Fund. For information or to make your screening appointment, call Dede Roberts at 354-6223.


“Zumba in the Parking Lot”


4:15 p.m. Oct. 24, Habersham YMCA, 6400 Habersham St. Join us in your pink attire at the Habersham YMCA for an afternoon of Zumba in the “Park”-ing lot. This fun-filled evening will include various raffle prizes, giveaways, and recognize a breast cancer survivor as she shares her experience with her battle against breast cancer. Donations will go to the Telfair Pavilion Mammography Fund. For information, call Dede Roberts at 912-354-6223.


OCT. 25


CURVES OFFERS FREE LIVAID BREAST SELF-EXAM (BSE) KITS


Oct. 25, Curves of Savannah, 7720 Waters Ave. $5000 in LivAid Breast Self-Exam (BSE) kits will be donated to women in the community at a “birthday” party. The kits will be demonstrated and the video with Olivia Newton-John will play during the party. These parties are free and open to the public but registration is required. For information, call 355-5562.


OCT. 26


Charity Wine Dinner


6:30 p.m. Oct. 26. Ruth’s Chris Steak House. 111 W. Bay St. Enjoy an evening tasting selections from the Rodney Strong wine portfolio paired with an elegant five course dinner. $100++. Profits from the Rodney Strong dinner will benefit the Nancy Lewis Cancer Research Center for Breast Cancer. For information, call 912-721-4800.


OCT. 27


4th Annual Mammogram Day


Oct. 27. Call 912-819-PINK to schedule a mammogram. Chatham Area Transit is offering free rides to anyone scheduled to have a mammogram on this day. Chatham Area Transit (CAT) has partnered with St. Joseph’s/Candler and the Savannah Morning News’s Paint the Town Pink to help you take charge of your breast health by getting screened.


NOV. 13


5th Annual Joyce Harrison Memorial Bicycle Poker Run


Noon Nov. 13, Doc’s Bar, 10 16th St., Tybee Island. Tybee’s largest bicycle poker run (scooters, golf carts, etc. are okay, too) to raise awareness for cancer screening and a joy ride to celebrate the memories of loved ones lost to cancer. All proceeds from event are donated to The Anderson Cancer Institute (donations are used toward patient care). Tickets are $25 per rider. For information, call 912-227-4229.


ONGOING


Take the ‘Pink Pledge’


Throughout October, dressbarn seeks to attract a minimum of 261,000 “Pink Pledges” from women who will commit themselves to getting a mammogram, eating healthier or taking bold steps to ward off breast cancer or catch it at an early stage. A dedicated website —


www.yourdressbarn.com/mypinkpledge — will urge women to take the ‘Pink Pledge,’ a public promise to take steps toward a healthier lifestyle. The site will also share stories of breast cancer survivors, and invite users to add their own stories of inspiration. In addition, they will once again raise funds by selling a stuffed plush dog named Lilac, with all net profits donated to the American Cancer Society.


Savannah Tech Liberty Campus supports Breast Cancer Awareness by collecting bras


Through Oct. 21, the Savannah Technical College Liberty Campus is collecting new and clean used bras that will hang in the administration building through mid-October. The bras will be given to O.C. Welch Ford Lincoln, who has promised to donate $1 per bra to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. There will be collection boxes at all of the Savannah Technical College campuses in support of the effort, though Liberty will be the only one to display the bras.


Photography proceeds to benefit Susan G. Komen Coastal Georgia


Lizard Eye Photo will be donating 20 percent of all portrait sitting fees and wedding package prices to Susan G. Komen Coastal Georgia from now until Nov. 30. To receive the 20 percent discount, portraits and wedding packages must be booked between now and Nov. 30 but does not have to happen during that time. For information, call 912-604-5857 or go to lizardeyephoto.com.


The San Francisco group Breast Cancer Action has led the campaign to question pink products, but Executive Director Karuna Jaggar said the group isn’t saying all such products are bad.


She said there’s no doubt that when the pink ribbon campaigns started about 20 years ago there was still a great need to raise awareness.


“At one time, pink was the means,” Jaggar said. “Now, it’s almost become the end in itself. In its most simplistic forms, pink has become a distraction. You put a pink ribbon on it, people stop asking questions.”


Breast cancer activists agree that the use of a ribbon to promote awareness evolved in stages. They note that in 1979 there were yellow ribbons for the American hostages in Iran, in 1990 AIDS activists used red ribbons to call attention to victims of that disease and that 1991 saw the first major use of the pink ribbon when the Susan G. Komen Foundation gave them out at a New York City race for cancer survivors.


But the ribbon symbol might tie into a far older tradition, according to the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress. It notes that various versions of the song “Round Her Neck She Wore A Yellow Ribbon” have been popular for 400 years, all with the theme of displaying the ribbon for an absent loved one.


And it’s clear that too many loved ones are still lost to the disease, despite many advances in diagnosis and treatment. The National Cancer Institute estimates that about 40,000 women will die of breast cancer this year, and 230,000 new cases will be diagnosed.


But Jaggar, of Breast Cancer Action, wonders whether more awareness is what’s needed to reduce those numbers.


And Breast Cancer Action does take exception to products it considers potentially harmful — such as a perfume the Komen Foundation introduced this year, “Promise Me.” Jaggar said the perfume contains some possibly toxic or hazardous ingredients, and Breast Cancer Action asked that Komen discontinue its sale.


Federal regulatory agencies don’t consider small amounts of those ingredients to be a threat, and Komen’s scientific and medical advisers didn’t believe there was any problem. But Komen said that to allay any concerns, the next batch of “Promise Me” will be reformulated without the ingredients that were criticized.


Leslie Aun, a spokeswoman for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, based in Dallas, said the advocacy group isn’t apologizing for all the pink.


“Research doesn’t come cheap. We need to raise money, and we’re not apologetic about it,” Aun said.


Komen, founded in 1982, has contributed $685 million to breast cancer research and $1.3 billion to community programs that help with mammograms, transportation and other needs, Aun said.


Komen would love not to have to do marketing, but that’s simply not realistic, she said.


“We don’t think there’s enough pink. We’re able to make those investments in research because of programs like that,” Aun said.


Samantha King, a professor at Queens University in Ontario and author of the book “Pink Ribbons, Inc.,” said people at first warned that she’d get hate mail for writing critically about the pink campaigns.


“And in fact the opposite was true,” King said. “I had underestimated the level of alienation that many women felt.”


King said she felt the Komen Foundation crossed the line a few years ago when it partnered with Kentucky Fried Chicken on the pink bucket of fast food.


“What’s next — pink cigarettes for the cure?” King asked. “I think this really speaks to the fact that they’ve lost sight of their mission. Their primary purpose appears to be to sell products.”


But perhaps not, said Ryan.


Over the past two years, she has worked in her hometown of Birmingham, Ala., with homeless women who have breast cancer. Some of them have an advanced stage of the disease, no health insurance and no place to call home. Yet when Ryan recently asked two of them what they wanted to help promote awareness among other homeless women, the response came quickly.


Pink handbags.


That answer prompted Ryan to take a hard look at her aversion to pink.


Now, she’s not sure whether it’s her place — or anyone else’s — to proclaim that a particular pink-themed product is acceptable or not.


“I’m conflicted,” Ryan said, adding that she still worries many people buy the pink products without really knowing where the money is going.


Jaggar said different women will make a variety of choices. The point is to have them consider what the best choice is, instead of buying a pink product blindly.


For example, the lingerie company Aerie, based in Pittsburgh, draped thousands of bras on one of the many steel bridges in the city to heighten awareness. Aerie said $1 from every sale during October will be donated to a breast cancer charity, up to $50,000.


Jaggar said that’s the type of detail shoppers should pay attention to and decide whether $1 out of a $20 or $30 sale is enough.


Jani Strand, a spokeswoman for Aerie’s parent company, American Eagle Outfitters, said her company feels strongly that it’s a good thing to get young women talking about breast cancer.


Aerie’s target audience is 20-year-old women, and Strand said the things that get that age group excited about a cause are different from what attracts older women.



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