The Need for Awareness

There's a meme going around on Facebook right now that asks women to post a note in their status that just states where they like to to put their handbag at home. It's meant to be an awareness-raiser for breast cancer, as last year's bra color meme was, but it's getting negative attention as some folks are questioning how successful it is as an awareness tool. Some are also saying that time spent participating in "silly" little things like posting a status in your Facebook page is wasted in the face of the seriousness of the disease, and that one would be better off putting their money where their status is. One opinion we have read says that women who have actually dealt with the disease would be insulted by the "campaign", and implies that only shallow, self-centered people would even participate.

Obviously, we understand that breast cancer is a very serious, and potentially deadly, disease. But we also see the value of awareness - on many levels - and think that how one deals with their own or their loved-ones' diagnosis is strictly personal and individual.

At times, it truly does seem impossible to laugh at something like the Facebook meme, perhaps because your sister is currently undergoing chemotherapy and is unable to care for her small children. Or maybe you just lost your best friend to her second painful battle with the disease. We certainly appreciate that in those kinds of cases it would be frustrating to see anything associated with breast cancer meant to make people giggle a little.

But there is always, always, always a need for awareness. And that awareness can strike different people in different ways. Some people are moved to ask questions and get involved by billboards featuring patient photos and statistics. Others are motivated by the news of the latest discoveries in research. And, believe it or not, some people find out more because something made them smile, or ask "why?" A co-worker told us that her daughter had friends talking about breast self-examination, and it was spurred by one of them asking what the Facebook meme was about. Others have been encouraged to have a conversation with male friends because they were asked what exactly it is that they like "under the desk in the kitchen." Crude? Maybe. Effective. Definitely.

We all deal with cancer and its spectrum of treatments differently, and we all become aware of the need for continued support, research, and fundraising - for ALL cancers - differently. It's up to each of us to decide what we will do and when, but we hope that negativity is not what will be taken away from an effort that has good intentions at its heart. We're all in this together... and it takes us all to make a cure happen. Even those of us who like to spend a little time on Facebook.