Boobie Trap

While I wrote the post below, I considered how much I might be discrediting the horrific reality of breast cancer experienced by people of colour. Still, I hit send.

Rachel, shared with me her experience and the experiences of her family members as they have all fought (and sometimes lost) the battle against cancer. Besides sharing the personal, she brought to my attention something that I didn't consider: "many, many poor folks are getting cancer - breast, lung, bladder, and all the other kinds of cancer, but don't have health insurance or money to do anything about it. so that's on the reasons that the images of "chemo women" - lost hair, emaciated, etc. are primarily white and "middle class"."

Good point.

While I referred to it in the context of the middle class, I never addressed the issue of privilege (and what access that privilege provides) among people of colour and the working class. To receive chemotherapy, one must take time from school and family responsibilities to take care of their health. When they don't have the luxury of time and/or money to sustain themselves and their families while in treatment, the option of treatment becomes null and void. This is usually only experienced by those in the working class. The middle class, on the other hand can rely on work benefits, spousal benefits or savings to carry them through.

I have never contended that cancer is experienced exclusively by white people from the middle class, however, I never acknowledged that breast cancer also impacts the working class and people of colour. This is the weakness of my perspective.

Still, I believe that corporations are neglecting issues like the poverty that exists in their own backyards. By throwing their money at one cause (in this case, breast cancer), I feel like they assume no responsibility to use their power, influence and finances to anything else. My understanding of breast cancer is that it doesn't lead to other social ills such as risky sexual activity, dropping out of school, getting in conflict with the law or family/domestic abuse. There is a belief that poverty does. The focus need not remain on one issue, but a small concentrated set of issues, with informed decisions about how to participate and set benchmarks for success.

Mark Echo's motivation behind his support for breast cancer may be a genuine desire to help. However, I am personally troubled to think that an entrepreneur who profits from the commodification of poverty (street style), would then ignore the issue of poverty to mobilize around breast cancer.

I'm still learning...