A friend of mine once used the phrase “ Don’t get my ire up, woman.” he was referring to his wife and at the time Kendall and I laughed our asses off. He was only joking of course, we adopted the phrase as our own and use it jokingly when we are mildly ticked with the other.
Unfortunately today my “ire” is up for real. Has been for a while now. When I was younger I flew off the handle at every little injustice, reality or not, and relished in the tongue lashings that my victims would receive for the minor infractions that they had committed in my presence. Over the years, I have become more tolerant, or at least wise enough to keep my big mouth shut. Don’t get me wrong, I am still quick to judge, and can be pushed over the edge with little more than a shove, but I try to pick my battles and keep the ass chewing to those who are truly deserving.
So what is it that has my panties so twisted that it prompted me to write on this blog that most of you thought ceased to exist. Well, I will tell you, the color PINK.
I can hear you now, “ Have you finally lost your freaking mind Blondie, who the hell gets mad at a color?” Especially a color that symbolizes all things sweet and lovely. Sugar, spice and everything nice.
We associate the color pink with baby girls, princesses, cotton candy, honeymoon lingerie, innocence.
And. Boobs.
Yep Boobs. Now don’t get me wrong I like boobs, I like mine, yours, and even the fake airbrushed ones in Playboy, I especially enjoy back boobs brought to you by the fine folks at People of Walmart.
There is a lot of boobie buzz going around now, with October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, retailers are hauling out all of their pink colored gadgets, water bottles, hats, pens, purses, nail polish, makeup, basically anything they can turn the color of Pepto Bismol, to tug at your heart-strings, and more importantly your wallet, with the promise that a portion of your hard-earned money is going to research. The pink push is not limited to only this time of year either, I have seen pink toolboxes on the internet, early this spring I could have bought pink dahlias with the BCA logo on them, even my beloved Harley Davidson retailer, has racks of clothing not in traditional black and orange, but pink, pink, and more pink.
Don’t me wrong, I would love to see a cure for breast cancer as much as the next girl, I have several family members who are survivors of this horrible disease. I am fully aware of the need for education, early detection, and regular mammograms.
My problem is that pink has become the new green. For every pink product that you purchase, you are making a charitable contribution, however, the manufacturer of that product is also making a profit, and are their intentions as good as yours? How much of your charity is put back into marketing, and not research? Breast Cancer has become big business, and while I believe it’s heart is in the right place, I am not convinced it’s wallet is. How certain are you that the pink item you are buying was put there with the motivation of finding a cure, and not funding a retirement plan or a vacation cruise.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and I am not discouraging you from purchasing something pink, hey, I am not that heartless, although I am certain that unless you live in remote 3rd world country you are pretty aware of breast cancer.
There is no denying that this a truly successful endeavor and has done more for the awareness of breast cancer than any other campaign in history. Who can find fault with that? I can.
What you may not know is that September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. Their color is teal.
Ovarian cancer is a silent and deadly cancer. Do you see anyone promoting this on TV? Do you have a teal ribbon magnet on your car, or a fight like a girl teal t-shirt? Do you own a teal pen, or water bottle, how about a silicone bracelet?
With all the talk of going pink, by media, retailers, and celebrities, ovarian cancer is overshadowed by the bubble gum colored and trendy topic of breast cancer.
I recently had to have a CA-125 blood test, which can detect ovarian cancer, my insurance doesn’t cover this test, even though I have been diagnosed with ovarian cysts, and my mother died from this horrible disease. The biggest obstacle with ovarian cancer is the lack of early detection, you don’t have symptoms until in many cases it is too late.
My mothers tumor was the size of a football by the time she was finally diagnosed, and she was left with a colostomy, the inability to eat solid foods, taking all of her nutrition through a twice daily I.V. She underwent several surgeries, many rounds of toxic chemotherapy and lost her hair 3 different times
She endured this horror with a grace and dignity that I can only hope to aspire to. By the time her cancer was detected, there was no saving her, we got to keep her for 3 years, time that I am grateful beyond words for.
I can’t help but wonder if she had known what to look for, if there were television commercials, awareness programs and better education might she have sought out a doctor sooner and been diagnosed while the cancer was still manageable, might she have been here to see her granddaughters start kindergarten and this year graduate from high school.
Today I am tying a teal ribbon to my wrist, because it is September, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
There is plenty of time for pink in October, all I am asking is equal time for all. Will you join me?
For more information regarding ovarian cancer please visit
