Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Think Pink?!?...

Gonna have to blame Sherry/Have Myelin for this post...she's the culprit who reminded me we are now deep in the throws of Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Like I COULD forget October is the entire month dedicated to the boobs and "pinking thinking"...LOL Pink is EVERYWHERE!

I wrote a post last year on the old AOHELL CHEESE site (in case you're interested in reliving a prior rant at the risk of developing PTSD, here's the stink link: http://journals.aol.com/baitulos/BrainCheese/entries/2006/10/05/wheres-my-parade.../556 ), called "Where's My Parade" and, well...I'm STILL not "over it". As the month of October looms in the fore front, I am once again reminded of OUR gang sign and colors...you know, the MS orange and "Join The Movement" slogan that was unveiled last year?


OK...let me first start with this. THERE IS NOT ANOTHER WORD IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE THAT RHYMES WITH ORANGE!!! What WERE "they" thinking? Every other color in the spectrum (minus purple) rhymes with some word...but, alas...NOT orange. We MSers are locked in...there will NEVER be a cutesy rhyming saying for us as long as we are flying the ORANGE banner.


And I'm sorry to beat a dead horse here but...I've said it before and I'll rant it once more (even THAT little line rhymes...but NOT orange!), when I see/read/say, "Join The Movement", I am automatically driven to images of BOWEL MOVEMENTS! Maybe it's the health care professional in me...maybe it's my attraction to bodily secretions...or maybe it's the BROWN and ORANGE colors of the MS Society logo! I don't know..."Join The Movement = BM to me...pure and simple. And, it's NOT a pretty sight.


I understand "they" have even changed our somewhat attractive RED rubber wrist bands to ORANGE?!? Now what? Do I have to stop wearing my read "Band Of Hope" and trade it out for the new ORANGE one? I don't have anything in my wardrobe that GOES with orange! This is going to cause ripples of anxiety across the fashion world...I feel it...LOL


I remain deeply envious of the Breast Cancer Awareness public relations/advertising department...man, are they good! To be able to steal an entire month of the Roman calendar, attach your color and cause to every living person who has ever championed a cause, and raise a gazillion dollars to fight for the "cure"...that's some mighty powerful lobbying. And, to their credit, they really HAVE seemed to influence the declining rate of breast cancer in women.


I'm a little concerned about the MEN, however. Did you know that breast cancer is actually on the RISE in men in the United States? Yep, that's right...per a study published in 2003 in the BMJ, a significant increase was seen in the diagnosis of breast Ca in men. Now granted, breast Ca in men accounts for less than 1% of all cancers...and in comparison to females (roughly diagnosed around 200,000 in the USA yearly), only about 1600 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer. But, the rate of DEATH in the male population is significantly higher than that seen in females. (If you want to read the article, go here: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1126640 ).


So...here's what I'm thinking (albeit twisted). Why don't we MSers "donate" our gang sign and color to Breast Cancer Awareness for men?!? I mean really...orange and brown are much more "manly" earth tones. And I don't really hear where the Breast Cancer Awareness folks have embraced the male breast cancer population in their "movement" (probably to avoid riot behaviors in the women, no doubt)...if they had, there would already BE another color and slogan for the fellas besides "pink"!


Whaddaya think?...LOL...

20 comments:

Bubbie said...

One of my favorite folkies, John Prine, once rambled on before a song about rhyming and the word ORANGE. He said that the only thing that rhymed with "orange" was "door hinge". See what you can work up with that in a slogan!
And men and BC....maybe it's the growth hormone in all that manly beef they eat.
I agree..orange is not the color for ms, it's a 2nd chakra color not suitable for MS....maybe purple for 3rd eye or shimmery white for the crown.

Miss Chris said...

I agree 100 percent. Orange? Yuck. I've about reached my limit with the "think pink " stuff. Enough already. No wonder people think M.S. is what "Jerry's Kids" have. A little more media and "awareness" would be welcomed. After all...we DO exist. (I feel much better now, Thanks).

mdmhvonpa said...

Perhaps burnt sienna?


Mmmmm .... boobies.

Sharon said...

I still have about 100 bands of hope in my closet from when we did an ms fundraiser. What do i do with those. Did you hear how crocs is supposedly creating one for ms. Proceeds will go to MS Society. and they have a little logo to go with it. They are also in orange. I don't undrstand the concept of changing the color.

Diane J Standiford said...

Not only do I still have a dozen RED MS bracelets, but PINK used to be Breast AND Ovarian cancers, now Ovarian Cancer month has changed to Sept., and the color...teal? green? light blue? I can't even tell. I am an Ovarian Cancer survivor and no wonder MS and Ovarian Cancer get so little money/attention. Orange-insane. Next year it will be plaid. Lance had a lion of an idea, the copy cats have no teeth. Me-OW. Gay people were smart--they took colors of rainbow, wait a minute...Jesse Jackson has that too. Oh, heck, all need to be green--the color of MONEY.

Sara said...

It's an interesting theory changing colours, but I reckon you should go for it, but what do you suggest the new MS colour should be?!!?!?! You need something original & I'm pretty sure most other colours have been used up, you need to get a cool design, maybe orange & red flames, like your MS bike shirt . . . just my 2 pence from L'town :)

harkoo said...

I like Sara's idea--the orange with red flames-sets us apart too, makes it more urgent.

Sara said...

look you can have "half rhymes" for orange, not that lozenge is going to help with your MS awareness slogan, but hey ya never know . . .

BRAINCHEESE said...

BUBBIE:

Well, at least you've thought out WHY that ORANGE just doesn't work for us! A bit twisted, but well-thought out...LOL

LD

BRAINCHEESE said...

MISS CHRIS:

Anything to help you feel better now! And a good rant is chicken soup for the soul...or, er...craw...one or the other!

LD

BRAINCHEESE said...

MDMHVONPA:

Yes, I'm sure October is just PORN month for you. Didn't I see you at mall will a sign offering free breast exams this month??!!?!

LD

BRAINCHEESE said...

MDMHVONPA:

Yes, I'm sure October is just PORN month for you. Didn't I see you at mall will a sign offering free breast exams this month??!!?!

LD

BRAINCHEESE said...

SHARON:

Probably because HIV/AIDS had red LONG before MS did!

LD

BRAINCHEESE said...

DIANE:

Maybe just clear plastic without any color?!? Now THAT would be original...truly boring, but original. LOL

LD

BRAINCHEESE said...

SARA:

Ah! Flames to feed my arsonistic spirit! I like it...

LD

BRAINCHEESE said...

HARKOO:

And there is that bladder "urgency" often associated with MS, too...oh, and burning sensations. I think you're on to something here!

LD

BRAINCHEESE said...

SARA:

Nice try...LOL

LD

BRAINCHEESE said...

SARA:

Nice try...LOL

LD

Have Myelin? said...

Wow, it must have made quite an impression. I didn't KNOW we even had a color. No one told me!

Where do I SEE this fabulous shade of ORANGE?

BRAINCHEESE said...

HAVE MYELIN:

Orange AND Brown! Nothing but the best of the color spectrum for us MSers...LOL

LD