Every month needs to be Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

And in October, the pink ribbon reigns supreme and breasts and related cancer survival stories are thrust before our eyes on every social media platform and news feed, calling for us to check our breasts, have a mammogram and open our wallets to donate to research (undeniably important messages). There is always SO much media attention brought to the cause, particularly in the first week of October, that sometimes I find myself scrolling on by all the supposedly encouraging posts and uplifting quotes as they can bring back some unpleasant memories for me.

Even before being diagnosed with breast cancer 16 years ago, I was buying all the pink ribbon paraphernalia because a) I knew it was for a good cause and b) I’ve always loved the colour pink (especially the sparkly, glittery kind).

And I’ve bought them all; Tshirts, wrist bands, pencils, sticky-notes, bracelets, pins, ribbons, bandanas, lipsticks, underwear, notebooks, reusable shopping bags, iced buns and pyjamas. As someone who has personally benefited so greatly from research into breast cancer, I am grateful for the donations to charities and organisations who in any way help fund research or support women and men going through the disease.

However, I do remember a time when I felt a great amount of shame and embarrassment when sales assistants asked me if I wanted to buy this-or-that to support breast cancer research. I know it was just a part of their rigmarole, asking every person who fronted up to the checkout, but I felt like they were asking only me because they knew that I'd survived it (they weren't and they didn't, it was just part of their job). I felt that I had a bright pink, neon sign above my head which screamed ‘Breast cancer was here!’ and I didn't want that to be me.

I did not, in any way, shape or form, want to be aligned with what is typically an older person’s disease (average age of diagnosis in Australia is 60 years of age) and felt that if I bought the pink merchandise, the truth that I’d been diagnosed at 29 would have been revealed. I was just so ashamed that breast cancer happened to me.

Back then, it also irked me no end the way some huge, multinational companies would advertise their commitment to breast cancer research with a sanctimonious pink ribbon on their October product packaging, but upon reading the fine print, realised that their generosity extended to one, two or five cents per product sold. I realise that five cents per product could add up to a sizeable donation if hundreds and thousands of any one product is sold, but even still. Five cents? Let’s face it, it is hardly a big commitment for billion dollar companies, and some are obviously making extra tidy profits due to the goodwill of consumers in the name of breast cancer awareness.

In a podcast and Instagram post, Breastcancer.org discuss the ‘Think Before You Pink’ campaign of another U.S. based group called Breast Cancer Action who ask people to consider the following four questions before buying a pink product:

• How much money from the purchase will go to a breast cancer organisation?

• Which breast cancer organisation is the donation being directed to?

• What donation amount the company has set as its maximum donation to the cause?

• Does the product put you or someone you love at risk of getting breast cancer?

These questions are not easily answered, especially the last one. If you’ve ever searched for a list of products which contain known or probable carcinogens, then you will know that many, many cosmetic, beauty and cleaning products are on that list. Not to mention alcohol!What is a girl to do?

At BCNA Field of Women at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), 2014

My take on it is this:

If a pink ribbon stamped on a product convinces any one of us to buy it over a product without it, all well and good. We can read the fine print and make an informed decision for ourselves about whether the cost and donation ratio is worth it. I know that even the promise of a five-cent donation can make us feel like we are doing good in the world of raising funds for research into breast cancer.

But I think what is even more important than the promise of that donation is the promise that you will make to yourself in committing to knowing your own body and checking your own breasts.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘there were around 145,000 fewer screening mammograms conducted by BreastScreen Australia in January to June 2020 compared with January to June 2018.’

Obviously, one of the big factors contributing to reduced screening numbers is Covid-19 and its repercussions in all our lives. But please, please, please, whatever you do - do not let Breast Cancer Awareness month go by without being consciously and acutely aware of the look and the feel of your own breasts (even is you are under thirty years of age), because if there is anything that research has proven, it is that early detection is key to long term survival.

Then, be sure to repeat that breast check each and every single month which follows October forevermore, because for each of us, if early detection is key, then every month on the calendar needs to be breast cancer awareness month.

I am not nearly as triggered now as I used to be about Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but even so, I haven’t bought anything in the name of breast cancer awareness for ages. Instead, I’ve preferred to make my own personal donations to various cancer related causes including the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Breast Cancer Network Australia, the Cancer Council, the McGrath Foundation and the Leukaemia Foundation.

Perhaps it is a sign that I am making peace with the pink ribbon and my status as a breast cancer survivor. Perhaps it is just that so much time has passed and I’m a lot older now (and my cheeks get pink from hot flushes rather than embarrassment which in itself is another embarrassment). In any case, there are still a few weeks left of this month for me to find those pink products, read the fine print and possibly do my little bit for awareness and research.

In the meantime, I’d love to know:

- What was the last ‘pink’ product you bought and why did you buy it?

- How has your relationship with the pink ribbon changed over time?

Until then,

Survivor Status: Ongoing and Aware

Christina