How Powerful Women Really Are?

I’m sure some of you have gotten, maybe even sent, the following on Facebook:

Remember the game last year about what color bra you were wearing at the moment? The purpose was to increase awareness of October Breast Cancer Awareness month. It was a tremendous success and we had men wondering for days what was with the colors and it made it to the news. This year’s game has to do with your handbag/purse, where we put our handbag the moment we get home for example “I like it on the couch”, “I like it on the kitchen counter”, “I like it on the dresser” well u get the idea. Just put your answer as your status with nothing more than that and cut n paste this message and forward to all your FB female friends to their inbox. The bra game made it to the news. Let’s see how powerful we women really are!!! REMEMBER - DO NOT PUT YOUR ANSWER AS A REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE- PUT IT IN YOUR STATUS!!

I find the bold line (bolding done by me) very interesting.

I don’t really have a problem with this campaign, even if I think it is a little silly, and this isn’t a huge issue I take with it.

I also am very well aware that spreading awareness is power. That’s very important!

But it’s the “Shh! Don’t tell the boys, keep ‘em guessing! We have a cool secret!” attitude that doesn’t sit right with me.

I don’t know, just rambling.

My intuition is the same- it just doesn’t sit well with me. Same for when a sorority on campus sold boob cookies for breast cancer awareness. All these things are done with good intentions, and that’s worth something, but these actions trivialize breast cancer. Breast cancer is not only about boobs, and it’s definitely not about bras or handbags. The only way I can even think of the last two being related to breast cancer are that they are traditionally ‘feminine’ accessories, and breast cancer affects women. Way to go- we have just reinforced some gender stereotypes! And as for those boob/’save the ta-tas’ campaigns- yes, one of the things breast cancer survivors lose are their boobs. While I can’t speak for how they feel about boob cookies, it seems like we should be focusing on supporting the whole woman, and not just the rack she’s may lose. In other words, women are more than their ta-tas. (Also: the word ‘ta-tas’ is a pet peeve of mine. Grow up and just say it: BREASTS.)

It’s also somewhat irritating to me that ladies on Facebook are all “teehee my bra teehee sexual innuendo when I’m really talking about where my handbag is.” Again, they mean well, I’m sure, but this is taking the focus away from what’s important - BREAST CANCER - and puts the focus on the poster’s sexuality, the poster’s coolness for being so racy as to post a somewhat sexual joke. Worse yet, most people don’t even know what these Facebook posts are about. There are a lot of people who will NEVER know, especially if you’re explicitly telling women to keep it a secret. Wouldn’t it be more effective to get everyone to post a fact or statement about breast cancer, and how you can donate to research or support groups? That would ensure that people are actually aware of what’s going on, instead of just hoping that someone clues them in eventually.

In the end, I guess what bothers me about these campaigns is that they rely on creating a fad. People join in, and they feel good that they’re supposedly spreading awareness about a disease. They’re not really spreading awareness about the disease itself, but really only that exists and that it’s cool and good to care about diseases, because omg, it is so sad to get cancer. And now you feel ‘empowered’ because you’ve done so much for breast cancer awareness! Women are so powerful, guyz!

What happens when the fad dies, when no one is posting about what bra color you’re wearing? We should care all the time - not just when it benefits you to look cool and ‘in the know’ on your Facebook profile.

I was going to post about this a few weeks ago when I got the message on facebook from a relative, who I’m not at ALL close with, from the Mormon side of my family. I was, honestly, quite confused.

That said, it bothered me a lot. I didn’t agree with the post-your-bra-color meme, because I didn’t feel that it raised awareness at all, but at least they could TRY to pass it off as such. But just posting, “I like it on the couch,” a silly sexual innuendo…? What’s the point? It doesn’t show how “powerful” women are, it’s not related to breast cancer in any way (and the way I read the email, I didn’t seem to me like that was their goal for this one, either). It’s just sexual innuendo for no reason. I don’t have a problem with sex, or innuendo in general, but this just made me uncomfortable. I don’t talk about my sex life on facebook, nor do I make jokes about it there. There’s a time and place for that.

Emphasis in volcanoes’ post is mine, because that’s exactly how I felt about the whole situation last time around, and she speaks the truth.