[Kitsa]

I don't think so. I think people can disagree on things and live with that.

As far as my mom (whose 5th cancer incident was DCIS) and I are concerned, pink ribbons feel exploitative.

I've never not had cancer, I was born with it, so I've had quite a while to think about this and come to terms with my position. Part of it is just my personal belief that the most honest acts of charity are anonymous, and I don't expect others to agree with that. I've spent large chunks of my life in hospitals and have dealt with many insincere acts of charity. I've come to resent the use of sick people, especially cancer patients, as tools to show off a person/organization's "goodness", to acquire a financial break, or to sell a product. You know those pathetic-looking sick kids on billboards? I used to be one. It seasoned my views.
When you're flat in bed on Christmas, and x celebrity comes in with a camera crew to be filmed being nice to you, it rankles a bit. It's not for you, it's for them.

To me and many others, the ribbons are just an extension of the same trend. I think that the use of cancer ribbons, pink ones especially, is growing in popularity as a way to take advantage of people's good intentions. I think many companies are deliberately misleading people about the amount of money actually donated, and many products "support" breast cancer research or feature random pink ribbons on the packaging without actually pledging to donate anything at all. To me, they're just capitalizing on the trend, hoping that a consumer will feel good about picking their item over a competitor's.

I'm sorry you think the website is ridiculous, and I do understand how widespread the use of parabens and phthalates is. I also understand that chemicals whose use is widespread can still be dangerous in the proper doses. My cancers, as are the majority of cancers in my immediate family, are due to an industrial pollutant. They've figured that one out. Yet this very chemical can be found in food packaging, all sorts of clothing, cooking utensils and many, many household items. You actually have to go way out of your way to avoid it. It's still out there and still being used because it's all PR when you get to the corporate level and the matter's still being duked out in the courts. In the meantime, they can use the chemical all they want.

There are lots and lots and lots of people...I would say the majority of cancer patients...who get their cancer and have no idea why. I think innocent exposure to chemical carcinogens is behind a lot of that, and we won't know how harmful they are for years. I think that a lot of parabens especially are going to end up in that category. I think that most cancers need a genetic predisposition to give them the go-ahead, and chemical exposure is just going to equal cancer in certain people. Methylparaben is going to harm some people and not others, that's just the way our bodies are.

I don't consider a lot of the pink ribbon use charitable. I think they're undermining the effect of those organizations that are trying to do good, by cheapening cancer charity and turning it into another mindless trendy sales pitch in a culture that has an increasingly "shopper" mentality.

I'm sorry about your mom. My whole family has been dealing with cancer for years and I hate it, there's nothing fair about it.
Thank you for having the balls to disagree with me publicly and not be wishy-washy about a sensitive topic the way a lot of people would. And if you feel indignant and righteous, that's good...it makes you feel better about yourself.

I feel the way I feel and *shrug*.