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Ms. Park,
I am a 3 year survivor of stage 3 breast cancer and awareness is viral in this fight. Your mothers cancer was not seen on a mammogram and so you condem mammograms. How dare you use your platform to discourage women from getting mammograms. To say “we have more mammograms, more biopsies, more tests, more fear, but no measurably better outcomes” is just wrong in so many ways. Are mammograms perfect? No, but it’s still the best we have to date. And just maybe some of that “pinktober” money raised will lead to a better, more accurate test. And yes, we do have better outcomes. Many more women survive today. The American Cancer Society states there are 2.8 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S.
So you can work out, eat well and wear your seatbelt and pretend that’s all that’s needed to protect yourself from breast cancer. My “antidote” is to proudly wear pink, spread awareness 12 months of the year, enjoy everyday to the fullest, and thank God for my life.
My name is Julia and I’m a breast cancer survivor.
Yes. Thank you Missy!
Couldn’t agree more! Godspeed!
Ms. Park, I hope you are not a leader or someone that folks rely on for support and good decision making. A person like you, who seems to have lost hope in humanity, may wish to consider abdicating to another who wishes to continue fighting the good fight. This way, you can complete your plan and reduce yourself to a smaller existence and allow those more willing with hope and energy to continue on while you disappear. Its sad when a person loses hope.
Best wishes to you and those you love. Its going to take a lot of courage for you to experience the disappointment in the eyes of those you hug. Especially, if you were once a leader. Ya see Ms. Park, you can really never go back until the battle is truly over. Than you will find your silence and peace of mind. The good news is, that you can define your own victory, than leave the battle to the next generation…Cancer is the dark side of pollution and technology…It is diverse with many contingencies…It is the toll for human advancement and it is not going anywhere anytime soon…..See ya on the front lines…
Good morning Ms. Park,
Your article was passed on to me by my Mother, a five year breast cancer survivor. As I read through the article I was extremely disappointed by your lack of compassion and knowledge of what “PINK” represents. To see the word “menace” in correlation with PINK was nauseating. How can a symbol of hope be menacing? How can something that bring so many people together, and unites them through compassion and courage be menacing? To say that PINK is menacing is to say that the American Flag, or the American Red Cross are in fact menacing as well. Each of these organizations represents a symbolic ideal of courage and compassion, unity and humanity. They provide for and benefit human life.
Yes, we do see PINK everywhere we look. We also see Blue (prostate cancer) and Purple (pancreatic cancer). For most, these are symbols of hope, reminders of loved ones battling or lost. They do raise awareness, as you stated, and in my opinion I think it’s a wonderful thing that so many are being made aware of breast cancer. Men and women alike now have a support system through PINK.
You mentioned that we need more than just awareness, and I agree wholeheartedly. We need a cure. This is exactly what PINK and Susan G. Komen and others associated with this symbol work towards each year. Yes, it funds lifesaving mammograms and treatments but they also work towards a cure. To say that awareness is a “pale substitute” for a cure is ignorance at its best. Without awareness and “The Pink Menace” the thought of curing breast cancer would be non-existent.
I sincerely hope that your personal antidote to the “Pink Menace” works for you. God forbid that we ever have to go through what our Mother’s did, but if I do, the first place I’m going is to the men and women in PINK.
And to those men and women in PINK, thank you for giving my Mother the courage and strength she needed to survive. Thank you for being warriors and fighting alongside my Mother. PINK is LIFE.
Best Regards,
Michaela Quinn – Daughter of Breast Cancer Survivor, Marisa Connors
I am a breast cancer survivor of (finally) five years. It nearly killed me. I am so sad to read this article, as I know first-hand that these events and fund raisers really do help. Even if not one more penny was raised, these events gather women together and strengthens them, gives them hope. It also passes on that same hope to future generations.
I’m not very good with words but one thing I can tell you is that after reading your article I will NEVER purchase another item from your company, or your parent company ever again. I guess it’s not hard to imagine that this type of article would come from a company whose “Company’s Score Board” is based on “Profitability” !!
The Pink Menace?!?!? How can you say that when you look around in October and see all that PINK and it reminds you to go get that mammogram? The one that could possibly just save your LIFE! A menace??? I think not.
And of course these monies are helping! Maybe there isn’t a cure, but the detection, the treatments, and the side effects from the treatment are ALL so much better than they were for the poor women who had breast cancer before us. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it was for them, and, I am grateful for every single little advancement in the fight against breast cancer and the research they do to find better, more effective, and safer treatments for future patients.
TO ALL THE WOMEN WHO AGREE, KEEP WEARING THAT PINK EVERY OCTOBER and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND STRENGTH! WE NEED YOU!!
We may not be winning the “war on cancer” but we are winning the fight!
My name is Marisa and I’m a BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR and I thank all of the women who went before me and to all of the people who work so hard to raise funds…
I thank you for my life!
My antidote? Research, research, research–preferably by women!
I completely agree!! I choose take my fight to reducing exposures to the estrogen mimics all around us. This years challenge was finding pj’s for my daughter that don’t conation flame retardant chemicals.
Thank you for writing this. Awareness is not needed anymore. Now it’s time to fight and demand removal of chemicals and more funding for research!
Thank you, Missy! My mother is a breast cancer survivor. I have never given a penny to any breast cancer organization and never will. As a nation, we are always looking for a quick fix – that magic pill that will make us lose weight, or cure cancer. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. We need and fundamental rethinking of what health means and what it is comprised of: physical health, mental health, and good relationships in all areas of our lives. When we achieve that, only then will we see cancer being eradicated.
Missy, You could not have said it better (The Pink Menace)! I have never been a “fan” of this pink thing. I am 53 so have watched it be born and blossom into this big hurrah! But, as you said, there is no cure. I am happy that people are getting out and moving when they participate in the “cause” races, but I come from the “old” days where to run a race often meant $5-$10, with no foundations or charity attached. It was for the pure love of running. I was recently a bandit at a costume themed 5k at the local Apple Orchid. I told the race director upfront that my costumewas ” a bandit” and I would not cross the line or have any refreshments, thank you. I enjoyed the company of the runners and seeing the costumes and feeling the exhilaration of getting my legs turning over a bit faster on that Sunday morning. I bought my own donuts at the well known apple cider donut shop there and enjoyed biting into a crispy fresh apple from the orchard.
I am happy to see that you are not wrapping up in Pink. I am happy to hear you are taking care of yourself and those around you, as well as setting an example for all of us. Selfishly, I was happy to read what I have felt for years, expressed plainly, and clearly on paper.
Thank you!