Pinkwashing Turns on Itself with Breast Cancer Awareness Gun
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October was Breast Cancer Awareness month, and the group Breast Cancer Action seized on the opportunity to promote its Think Before you Pink campaign to raise awareness of how companies are increasingly exploiting breast cancer as a marketing device to sell products -- some of which are actually harmful to women's health. Pink ribbon campaigns are offering up some bizarre, albeit benign products like a breast cancer awareness toaster and a breast cancer awareness floating Beer Pong table. But the most bizarre item yet to have a pink ribbon slapped on it must be Smith & Wesson's Pink Breast Cancer Awareness 9 mm Pistol, promoted by a woman named Julie Goloski, Smith and Wesson's Consumer Program Manager and a sharpshooter herself. Goloski is promoting S&W's breast cancer awareness pistol on her Facebook page, saying "October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness M&P’s are shipping to dealers. I am thrilled to have my name associated with such a worthy cause and one of my favorite firearms." According to a 2008 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, firearms are the second most common cause of violent deaths of women, accounting for 29.2% of all violent deaths among females in the U.S. in 2008.
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Comments
No, you missed the point
No, you missed the point that a world class athlete, Julie Goloski, is offering for sale a copy of the exact piece of sports equipment she wins with in international competition. and a portion of the sales will be donated to Breast Cancer research. This should be about as controversial as Lance Armstrong raffling off his Tour de France bike for cancer research.
more facts
Total # of women who die from Breast cancer in 2005
41,116
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/statistics/
Total gunshot deaths in women, all causes, including suicide (2006)
4,050 this includes 2,149 firearm suicides and 1,901 firearm homicides.
http://tinyurl.com/yjxft6e
so basically, guns are involved in less than one tenth the number of annual deaths of women than breast cancer.
for some sort of comparison as to rarity of death by violence of all types,
http://tinyurl.com/yzyydzx
this shows how homicide deaths OF ALL CAUSES in women are ranked 15th, after heart disease, chronic respiratory disease, unintentional injury, diabetes, suicide, hypertension, and even Parkinson's Disease.
so basically, this whole thing can break down to PR Watch shrieking "EEEK a GUN!!!111eleventy!!
Is someone who shoots a gun an "athlete"?
A sportsperson, perhaps.
Anne Landman
Is someone who shoots a gun an athlete?
You say not an athlete, but a sportsman. Don't take my word for it. I believe if you thought that comment through it might have occured to you that there are shooting sports in both summer and winter olympics. The NCAA (National Collegiate ATHLETIC Association) sanctions shooting sports at the collegiate level and many high schools across the country have competitive shooting teams . I think that is a pretty authoritative body of work indicating individuals shooting a gun in a sport does indeed qualify them as athletes. Your arguments now are getting really pathetic.
Yes, she's an athlete. Julie
Yes, she's an athlete.
Julie G. is a top female competitor in the shooting sports, particularly the USPSA.
If you're not familiar, this sport requires physical skill to negotiate an obstacle course, while shooting, and your score is a reflection of accuracy and speed.
"competitor" "sport" "physical skill" "score" ...all clues that yes, she's an athlete.
In fact, she was the US Army Athlete of the Year awhile back.
Does writing a biased opinion on the web make someone a journalist?
You miss the POINT! It isn't
You miss the POINT! It isn't the gun that kills people it is the criminal that utilizes the gun, knife, car, club or whatever. As a shooter I have never seen a gun jump up off a table and shoot someone on its own. Don't turn this into an anti-gun discussion when the article is showing that a company that fully supports enabling women, such as Smith and Wesson, is trying to do something for women.
S&W is not selling a
S&W is not selling a murderer or a rapist dressed in pink. They are selling a pistol; a tool of self defense. Did you also pulled statistics for women killed or injured at knife point the first time you saw a set of pink kitchen knives? The numbers on violence against women would me much lower if more women carried a good revolver instead of relying on a 911 call IF they have the chance.
Excuse me, but I think it is you who missed the point.
Voila'!
...A Susan G. Komen [http://www.metrokitchen.com/product/KJ-FK-140-SE breast cancer awareness knife]!
Anne Landman
Having actually used the
Having actually used the product of the company in question to protect myself from a violent criminal, as well as for more peaceable and recreational purposes, I have to wonder just who is missing the point here, Anne.
No, you missed the
No, you missed the point!
Just like Julie Goloski Golob, there are many women who are working for one goal, which is to promote breast cancer awareness, to keep the topic up fresh in women's minds. ...and men's for that matter.
Breast Cancer Awareness is the main topic that must not be over-looked, regardless if a penny or one hundred dollars goes to the cause. Making sure that millions of women are educated about the topic is what is most important. Products and prominent sports figures like Julie do just that. If only 1000 women are enlightened on the topic, they are encouraged to see their doctor, learn about self-examination, etc, then the venture pays off. I don't care if they sell pink bazookas, if it accomplishes the goal, then it works.
I have lost aunts, my god-mother, and way too many friends from the disease, and if putting a pink adjustable backstrap on an M&P helps, then so be it. God bless S&W, and Julie for pushing the idea.
Please look past the firearms aspect. Realize that a good person, and good American company are trying to do a good thing for a good cause. We can see that you don't like guns. That's your preference.
Thank you,
Mike Luciano
Your statement is not remotely based in fact anyway
Firearms are not a leading cause of death in women according to the CDC.
Here are the leading causes of death among all women in the US and the corresponding percentages.
1) Heart disease 27.2%
2) Cancer 22.0%
3) Stroke 7.5%
4) Chronic lower respiratory diseases 5.2%
5) Alzheimer's disease 3.9%
6) Unintentional injuries 3.3%
7) Diabetes 3.1%
8) Influenza and pneumonia 2.7%
9) Kidney disease 1.8%
10) Septicemia 1.5%
http://www.cdc.gov/Women/lcod.htm