What is Pinkwashing?
For the purposes of this article let’s go with Breast Cancer Action’s definition of pinkwashing:
“Pinkwasher: A company that purports to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribboned product, but manufactures products that are linked to the disease."
This could be something as small as a tube of lip balm that contains parabens but donates a percentage of sales to a breast cancer charity to something as large as car company making a large monetary donation because combustion engines belch toxins from their tailpipes.
Some people go as far to include any and all charity functions that are pink and/or benefit breast cancer organizations, even if they are what they say they are.
Pinkbashing
Some of the pinkbashers are true whistleblowers. Just like anything there are companies and charities that aren’t what they say they are. For that reason, I always research before I donate. What percentage of the money donated will be going to fund what? Is the charity in line with what I believe? Would an outright donation of even a few dollars be more effective than buy a doodad for charity if I wouldn’t normally buy that doodad to begin with?
Some people still hate on yogurt sales for charity though.
Instead of bashing the people who buy problematic pink charity products, have you considered contacting the company and asking them to make a change? That’s what happened when Yoplait yogurt started it’s pink lid for breast cancer promotion. Consumers wrote Yoplait and told them they didn’t like that they were supporting breast cancer while their yogurt was made with milk that contained rBGH. Guess what? Yoplait did the right thing and no longer has rBGH. Yoplait’s competitor Dannon followed suit. We all win with that one!
I Was Pinkbashed
One day I wore a scarf in my hair and went about town on my weekend errands. A woman stopped me and asked if I was a survivor. I told her I wasn’t. She gave me a strange look. I got a lecture on how I was part of the pinkwashing problem and that I shouldn’t represent myself as being something I’m not because I’m doing more harm than good.
I wore this scarf because it’s pretty, matches my dress, and keeps my hair out of my eyes, not because I believe it will save ta-tas.The money I helped raise at the event, THAT will help save second base.
I wasn’t wearing anything that said I had the disease. In fact, the only way you’d know that my scarf had anything to do with breast cancer is if you went to that event.
What surprised me the most was the venom behind her words. It didn’t matter that the 75% of the money the event raised stayed in Columbus and that the rest went to fund national research grants. Or that I participated in memory of someone who had breast cancer. It was pink and part of the problem.
That hurt.
Sometimes people need symbols like ribbons or a doodad to rally behind. Sometimes people need big splashy raise a bunch of awareness as well as money events to make us feel like we’re doing something to help our loved ones when we feel powerless. Are we so jaded about the effectiveness and need for early detection and education events because they’ve been around since the early 90’s and that they are working? According to the American Cancer Society:
“Survival from cancer continues to increase. The five-year relative survival probability for all cancers diagnosed nationally during 1999-2005 is 67%, up from 50% in 1975-1977. Survival rates are highest when cancer is detected early.”
What do you think? Do you consider all breast cancer products pink washing? What do you think about the people who buy them or support charities that sell them? What if they support the cause by buying the products they normally do but they aren’t good for the environment? Do you bash/educate them?
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"That Girl wears a lot of pink"
ReplyDeleteQoute from legally blonde II.
They don't like the color you pick to wear - Tell them to go piss up a rope. You're pretty in pink.
Wearing the color? That's a sort of ridiculous thing to pick at.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking about this topic recently, especially with all of the copy/paste awareness statuses on Facebook.
I think we already have all the awareness that we need, right now what I think we need for breast cancer (and all others) is activism.
Shortystylee - There is a lot of pink fatigue because the awareness programs started a mere 10 years ago are working. So we think that they've been around forever. When Husband's grandmother was diagnosed in 1969 people barely knew about it, let alone how to check for it. I think the breast cancer campaigns have paved the way to talk about other cancers/diseases in the open like the Live Strong campaign.
ReplyDeleteI want to mention, that I usually don't buy the pink doodads (my scarf was a freebie) but someone close to me does. She has a heart as big as the ocean and thinks she's helping. I can't really burst her bubble but the last time I saw her I gently asked her some Think Before You Pink questions about where the money she spends on doodads goes. That got her thinking to check it out first.
I'm to lazy to find my post on pinkwashing but the PVC rubber ducks and all the toxic crap with pink ribbons really bothers me but I find it rude the you wearing pink was called pink washing.
ReplyDeleteMy best friend's mom died a couple of years ago from breast cancer after fighting it many times. I watched her die spending most of everyday she was in the hospital up at the hospital helping take care of everything. It was terrible and one of the hardest things I have been through. Watching my best friend and her family in that kind of pain is something I will never forget.
So anyway my point is I don't want people to be tricked into buying a product that causes the very thing it says it's fighting. I think we need to also work on keeping women from getting breast cancer in the first place.
Lisa - I'm sorry you lost someone to breast cancer. I have too. The woman was upset because of the pink scarf I was wearing. I got it as a freebie at a Breast Cancer fundraiser that I vetted and was satisfied that the money we raised and I donated would be used legitimately as I mentioned in my post. She said pink for breast cancer EVERYTHING is bad but since my scarf didn't have logos or ribbons or whatever the only way she could have known it was a breast cancer freebie is if she was at the event.
ReplyDeleteI'm not addressing the legitmate concerns about some pinkwashing. What I am addressing that for many, they consider ALL of it pinkwashing no matter what and without investigation - as in my encounter.
And as much as some survivors hate all of the pinkness (with some very good reason) there are that many more who embrace it (with some very good reason.)