But did Big Pink really get the message? iVillage Health asked me to drop by and discuss it.
Bottom line: If you stood with Planned Parenthood and/or breast cancer organizations that don’t play politics with women’s heath, good on you! We made a difference and 170,000 low-income women will be getting breast cancer screenings this year as a result.
(Also Mayor Bloomberg helped.)
But I’m going to continue to support breast cancer research and awareness efforts without a Komen-brand pink ribbon — or pink pom-pom gloves, pink (and probable carcinogen-containing) perfumes and pink handguns. Because shopping for the cure doesn’t work if your dollars don’t get spent on the women who need them most.
PS. Major kudos to Erin Ryan Gloria on Jezebel for following the Komen money — and figuring out that “under investigation” doesn’t mean much as long as you’re not a pro-choice organization (but are, say a major state university embroiled in a sex scandal).
And if you want the full story on how the pinkwashing and industrialization of breast cancer, time to reread Barbara Ehrenreich’s epic “Welcome to Cancerland.“