There is nothing I like more than helping out charity, so when I joined the Western Fashion Club I was pleased to hear that it would be campaigning to raise money for breast cancer.
That is, until I went to the first Fashion Club meeting and heard just how it was planning on earning this money. I was informed about an upcoming T-shirt campaign wherein the club would be selling shirts and the proceeds would go toward breast cancer research — so far, so good.
Then they told us about the T-shirt designs. On the women’s shirt all sorts of different ways one can refer to breasts will be written — boobs, jugs, tatas etc. Then underneath will be the statement, “Whatever you call them, they need our support.”
This sounds more like an ad for bras than for breast cancer awareness. The men’s shirt is even better, though. It simply says, “Free breast exam.” Is this really what we need to do to earn money for breast cancer? Instead of raising awareness, do we need to turn it into a means to make crass jokes and giggle at sex metaphors?
Controversy is sometimes a great way to sell a product, but I think we need to be a little more tactful when we consider that women who get this disease can potentially lose a breast. Perhaps in this light, it is not so funny.
Katie Fraser
Arts IV
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