By Jay Marks HMC ‘19
Staff Writer
The month of October brought with it a change on campus, as leaves began to change, the weather cooled down, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month came onto the radar.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month first came about in 1985, with the aim of promoting mammography as the best prevention method against breast cancer. The American Cancer Society partnered with the pharmaceutical division of a company that makes anti-breast-cancer drugs, Imperial Chemical Industries.
The now-iconic pink ribbon originated in 1991, when the Susan G. Komen Foundation handed out pink ribbons to people in a New York City race for breast cancer survivors. This was derived from the red ribbon for AIDS awareness. In 1993, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation was founded by Alexandra Penny, editor-in-chief of a women’s magazine, and Evelyn Lauder, breast cancer survivor and Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estée Lauder Companies, manufacturers of skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products. These two women coined the pink ribbon as its symbol.
There are events all over the world with the purpose of raising both awareness and money for breast cancer research. The Race for the Cure is an annual event that is held in over 50 countries. In addition, there is a multitude of events where people raise awareness by wearing pink. Some countries even light up their monuments pink, a prime example of this being the Eiffel Tower.
One prominent event in October that several students from the 5Cs participated in was International No Bra Day, on Oct. 13. Women were encouraged to not wear a bra, while men were told to show their support by wearing purple. However, this event sparked controversy, as some stated that this event makes light of the plights of breast cancer survivors and is a poor way to bring attention to the issue.
At Scripps, the Motley hosted a Chest Casting on Oct. 23, at which students were encouraged to cast their chests to promote not only breast cancer awareness, but body positivity overall.
Claremont Colleges Against Cancer also hosted their annual Pinkathon Color Run. The event cost 15 dollars for students and 25 dollars for community members, making the run a way for participants to stay active, get sprayed with pink powder, and raise money for the American Cancer Society.
Other than these three events, Breast Cancer Awareness has not been very prominent at the Claremont Consortium this year. Despite the liberal nature of the five undergraduate colleges, there were very few events on campus that involved education about Breast Cancer Awareness Month and support for survivors.
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
If you would like to get involved by donating money, more information can be found at www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=497#.VjaAQGSrSL0.