Daily Discourse: Breast Cancer Awareness.
7:50 AM
It happened during 2nd block, I was sitting in English peacefully until I glanced at the boy sitting adjacent to me. He was decked out in I <3 Boobies gear; a campaign that aims to raise awareness for breast cancer. I remember the rubber bracelets being the next big thing in 6th or 7th grade, everyone had one. We all thought they were the most edgy thing in our sad little 12 year old lives. Years later, I heard some chatter about how problematic these “I <3 Boobies” and “Save the Tatas” campaigns really were; I hadn’t put much thought into it until now.
The campaign itself is founded on a principle of objectification; reducing women down to one anatomical feature. This said anatomical feature being viewed as “obscene”, one that must be censored. One question kept running through my mind; why do people think it’s okay to start campaigns such as these and who is to blame? The answer to this question lies within decades among decades where women were seen as objects and property; first owned by their father and then eventually their husband. But women are not property, we are not objects forged for male pleasure; we are people. Instead of preaching “save the tatas!” how about we preach about saving the women, instead.
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