It's November now and all the hype around October and it being breast cancer awareness month has dissipated. The Pink cart team was super busy all month with contests and give aways and blogging and general traffic on the Facebook page and our website. Now it's quiet and it feels like everyone has packed up and gone home. The traffic on our Facebook page has dramatically dropped off and while that is just fine, it tells us something. I am not sure what I think about October being the designated month we all think about the cause...I suppose it's better than nothing but breast cancer doesn't know a 'month', breast cancer knows 365 days, 52 weeks and all 12 months of the year. Just like every other cancer and affliction in society.

So, my question is, why single out a month to dedicate to this disease? Is it possible that we have corralled this disease into a time frame to help us all deal? Is it possible that there is danger in doing so and that for the other 11 months of the year people don't have to think about it? We have had several discussions about Pink Washing and how some people feel that the Pink Ribbon movement has done more harm than good for the cause. They feel that Pink lightens up the mood about Breast Cancer - and therein may lessen people's level of concern about the severity of the disease. So does singling out October to passionately advocate about the fight against breast cancer do the same thing? How would the fight for this cause be different if we didn't have Breast Cancer Awareness Month or Pink Ribbons? Would people know less about the disease? Or would there be a greater push for supporting the fight throughout the year?

And what happens after October? If our Facebook page is any indication, maybe people put their Pink pom-poms in the corner and save them for next year. Do people just move on in November to thoughts of Thanksgiving and the holiday season? I'm certainly thinking about what I will serve my family on the 24th more lately than breast cancer and I think I'm pretty typical. And maybe that's not a bad thing, we all have several things happening in our lives that we have to tend to. But how do we transition from a month of such extreme focus on breast cancer back to our normal routine without losing the urgency to find a cure?

I don't know the answer to these questions, on one hand I am grateful for the designated month of awareness on the other hand I think it's a mistake to confine breast cancer to one month of the year.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Thanks,

~ Jo-Anne