stillness is a lie, my dear
More and more, in business as well as event planning, ‘diversity’ is becoming a buzzword. Whether people are hiring for a company, assembling panels for a convention, or sending out invites to an industry event, they want to be ‘diverse,’ by which they seem to mean that people from a variety of backgrounds, life experiences, […]
Periodically, there’s a new round of people going gaga for the latest ‘body positivity’ campaign by Dove, which made headlines with its ‘real beauty‘ campaign and has prepared a host of other stunts intended to draw attention to the company like its ‘real women‘ marketing. Many people react positively to these campaigns, citing Dove as […]
They say that you can’t truly understand someone’s life until you’ve walked a mile in her shoes. This particular saying is especially popular in social justice-oriented communities where people want to underscore the idea that while you can learn a lot about a given group of people, you can never fully comprehend their experiences as […]
Readers may recall that last year I did a series on the problems with breast cancer campaigning, which I don’t really feel the need to repeat; you can poke through my archives if you’re inclined to do so. But, I couldn’t let this year pass without mentioning the issue, and abby jean pointed me at […]
My friend Everett Maroon is kicking off another round of Political InQueery at Bitch Magazine, and it’s got me thinking about the 2012 campaign even more than I already was. The story currently occupying my brainmeats this week is the coverage about how the Republican contenders are ‘too boring.’ Apparently elections are supposed to be […]
When we examine campaigns focused on breast cancer ‘awareness’ or ‘raising funds for the cure,’ we also need to acknowledge the complex set of needs involved when it comes to talking about campaigns surrounding cancer. I fear that some of these campaigns only focus on one facet, ignoring others, and as a result, they are […]
Last week, I discussed the fact that gendering breast cancer with pink branding has the effect of excluding many people who can potentially develop breast cancer. I also briefly touched upon the question of awareness. Most campaigns for breast cancer dominating the news and airwaves right now have ‘awareness’ in their names or missions. They […]
October is the pinkest month. Every year, I dread October, and every year, it rolls around regardless. October is breast cancer awareness month, which means my world is about to be awash in a sea of pink as people compete to demand my money, my time, my energy. Every year, I rage about the framing […]
For the last few weeks, the radio station has been incessantly running ads for ‘Massage for the Cure,’ an event organised to take place tomorrow. Customers at Massage Envy, a national massage chain, can get a $49 therapeutic massage and $15 of that goes to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. I actually […]