A cancer crusade turns contentious Some say the breast-cancer ‘industry’ has become too much of a good thing.

Title: A cancer crusade turns contentious Some say the breast-cancer ‘industry’ has become too much of a good thing.

Author: Marie McCullough

Publication: philly.com

Publication Date: September 30, 2004

 

In the coming days, Philadelphia’s LOVE Park fountain and the Center City skyline will turn pink.

New York’s Times Square will display a 70-foot-tall ribbon made of pink Post-it notes.

Honolulu will have contests featuring giant sculptured-fiberglass geckos, one sporting a pink lei.

And from sea to shining sea, Americans will buy things – M&Ms, bras, toilet paper, cars, you name it – knowing that a portion of the proceeds will go to “cure,” “kiss goodbye,” “target,” or otherwise conquer breast cancer.

But behind the festive fund-raising events and confident rhetoric that mark October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the fight against breast cancer is increasingly contentious and splintered. With at least 1,000 registered nonprofit breast-cancer organizations in the United States, there is competition – even occasional legal battles – for trademarks, sponsors, alliances, and the clout to shape political and research agendas. Some groups feel the breast-cancer movement has become too popular – a cuddly, commercialized, cash-laden crusade that is nowhere close to solving the mysteries of the deadly disease.

This week, one such group is launching a chain e-mail campaign urging Americans to “think before you pink” during what it calls “Breast Cancer Industry” month.

The e-mail, signed by feminist author and breast cancer survivor Barbara Ehrenreich, is the work of San Francisco-based Breast Cancer Action, a group calling for better coordination in funding research.

Link to Full Article