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E-PrinceYet another well-intentioned event has caused campus furor in the past few days — this time, it’s “Manicure for the Cure.” This may seem odd, because the last piece of activism that we would expect to be controversial is breast ...(back to the article)
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Can all eating club and dining hall workers please be tested for swine flu? Or wear more gloves?
In ny, they are taking some pretty intense precautions
"This guerilla campaign, if anything, serves to show that there does exist a sub-population of Princetonians who object to this treatment of breast cancer patients and survivors."
im pretty sure those ppl werent objecting to these ads, they just found it to be hilarious and good fodder for more hilarity.
"We should support breast cancer research to show solidarity with those who struggle with the disease, not because of perceived sexual payoffs"
20 bux says the dudes who support this campaign after seeing the ads arent in it for "sexual payoffs". none of us actually think our 20 year old gfs are getting breast cancer anytime soon. people support campaigns for alll sorts of reasons other than the supposedly explicit one being marketed to us, which merely functions as an attention-getter.
"we need to... question why we only act when we’re provoked"
remember 9th grade biology? living beings respond to stimuli
p.s. hey prince, you misspelled gracies name in the byline or whatever
I really don't get what all of the fuss is about, especially since this is the same tagline used last year, only this time it's more prominent.
I believe the point of targeting men in the original posters was to get guys to actually come to the event because for the most part, guys don't partake in the manicures, but they would probably like the bake sale and massages. Not to make breasts male property.
I was personally not offended by the posters, even though my grandmother battled breast cancer twice and had a double mastectomy. Obviously, breast cancer isn't funny. But if we are completely unable to have a sense of humor about anything, how depressed would we all be? If the poster had just said, "Get a manicure or a massage so that women don't have to surgically remove their breasts or have chemo" would that have been better? Then, aren't we mocking breast cancer patients by primping and preening while they are suffering? Let us also not forget that breasts and "second base" are sources of sexual pleasure for women, (I mean, that's the point of touching them, right?) not just men.
The response posters, to me, were far more offensive than anything the Manicure for the Cure people could have done. And for them to have made them essentially the same as the original posters, genuinely confusing some people as to which posters were a joke and which weren't only makes it worse. The responses more than anything take away from a real dialogue about cancer... because all anyone can talk about are the posters and how they don't talk about cancer.
Unfortunately, sometimes the need for a catchy slogan and publicity can gloss over or detract from the gravity of the cause being promoted, but if those catchy slogans can motivate action, is it not on some level worth it? Sometimes you have to laugh so you don't cry, and sometimes you need to make light of things in order to get people excited about something. Whether our need for sugarcoating is good or bad is another discussion, but if it gets people to come out and support the cause while raising awareness, it can't be so bad.
in response to yrcon: young women can also be diagnosed with breast cancer.
in response to NS: the fact that the originals and the parodies were so easily confused is symptomatic of how the originals were marketing their campaign. if you think about it, the "right" one should have been clear if it really stated the cause clearly and if it wasn't offensive.
the focus of the counter ad campaign is about gender equality and the objectification of women rather than whether someone should be an activist about breast cancer research.
in response to pu:
yes, young women can get breast cancer too, but it's prettyyyy damn rare and that's why its not like latent in our minds as an immediate concern affecting our female peers
i looked up the chances that women will get breast cancer
"In fact, if you are currently 20 years old, the probability of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years is 1 in 2,500. If your current age is 30 years old, the probability of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years is 1 in 250!"
so our peers are 10 times less likely to be getting breast cancer than if they were a mere 10 years older.
dear yrcon: you're talking about cancerous lumps. in regards to breast cancer, you don't know if a lump is malignant until you remove it. are the numbers you referring to about diagnosed incidents of breast cancer? many of our peers have had lumpectomies. breast cancer is a concern for women and men of all ages, which is why manicure for the cure has been promoting awareness. perhaps you'd benefit from the educational side of the event this weekend.
Hmm, I missed this conflict completely. All I noticed about the posters was the strange impact of gentleman being addressed on posters in the girls' bathroom, and that the posters seemed to suggest the gentlemen ought to get manicures (I know there's a bake sale too, but it's "manicure (not cookies) for a cure"). At that point I was sufficiently amused to forget they were talking about breast cancer at all.
Also- women might want to save "second base" too, one shouldn't assume that only men derive pleasure from breasts.
That said, I have never heard anyone say "second base" in my life.
pu: i don't know, the website just said "breast cancer". perhaps i would benefit.
however, you seemed to be against the way this campaign is going about their business. i must say though that i cannot ever remember being moved to stop and pay attention to a breast cancer campaign prior to seeing the 'save second base' posters and i think that says something. maybe you'll say that it means im sexist and objectify women. but to me, it just says that this is a highly humorous and effective ad that can penetrate the apathy with which we tend to look at posters advocating various causes
to me, it does not matter why you support my cause as long as you support my cause.
amused: of course, women take pride in their sexuality as well, which is where the original slogan came from. but the posters take that female pride in sexuality and reverse it into explicitly male objectification.
yrcon: thats a good point about supporting the cause and having one's own reasons. no one's judging anyone's reasons for supporting breast cancer research. there is simply a controversy about the advertising means. and i would be entirely supportive of a campaign that alerts men to female sexuality and breast cancer awareness but at the same time does not carry a tone of objectification.
Oh good god, get a sense of humor...