Diary of Systemic Injustice Showcase – Sexualizing Breast Cancer Awareness

I came across a TikTok a few weeks ago that discussed why breast cancer has so much awareness around it and I thought it would be the perfect topic to write about, being that the month of October was just among us all. October is breast cancer awareness month but why does no other illness receive the same international support that breast cancer does? A distinctive trait of breast cancer campaigns is their ability to transform a painful, deadly illness into something delicately feminine and even glamorous. I guess the reason for this comes from the source that breast cancer affects, well, breasts. I connected this topic to Ortiz Cofer’s Story Of My Body. Cofer’s body image was criticized due to societal values, image standards, and cultural differences, thus giving her a different perception of the world. In the short video I watched, her 2-year-old daughter had recently passed away in June to a rare and aggressive cancer known as a rhabdoid tumor. In other cancers and serious diseases/illnesses, especially children’s cancer, there is no way to sexualize it, so it doesn’t sell or get this sort of attention/support behind it. This is so unfortunate for those fighting breast cancer because it is still a serious battle but awareness ads themselves show images of nude women in which their faces were either cropped out or turned away. The focus, of course, was entirely on the breasts.  It is about the actual lives of the people to which the breasts are attached that are at risk. I find it insulting and objectifying to women that the salvation of the fatty tissue on their chest seems to be valued above their actual experience as women battling a deadly cancer. The sexualization of the female body is not the only exploitative enterprise that comes from breast cancer awareness support. Every year, corporations take advantage of the widespread support to sell their own products. The transformation of breast cancer into an illness with a palatable face has created a level of hype that lends itself to incredibly successful marketing for corporations. The American society places too high of a value on looks and physical appearance.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8efbX4G/