It has been almost 20 years since pink ribbons first appeared on the cultural landscape, a symbol of hope, empowerment and determination to put an end to breast cancer.
In those two decades the breast cancer mortality rate has dropped 35 per cent, according to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. That is, a woman diagnosed with breast cancer today is 35-per-cent less likely to die within five years of a breast cancer diagnosis than she was 20 years ago.
But a Canadian woman still has a one-in-nine chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. About 22,000 Canadian women - and some men - will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. About 5,400 will die of it. A cure has proven to be elusive, and the pink ribbon movement is under increasing scrutiny over corporate partnerships that, at times, push the boundaries of absurdity.
Ottawa writer Laurie Kingston has metastatic breast cancer and writes a blog called Not Just About Cancer. She gets pitches every year from companies who want her to promote products touted to increase breast cancer awareness and raise funds for the cause.
This year, the president of a U.S. company called Save the Ta-tas that sells licensed apparel invited Kingston to be a guest blogger.
"I have some fun ways to make it a great partnership for both of us and for the fight against breast cancer," wrote Ta-tas president Julia Fitske.
Kingston questioned the fun. She found the Ta-tas T-shirts for men (one says "I Love Ta-tas" and another proclaims "I ate the whole rack") to be distasteful and insensitive. Besides, she prefers to donate to an organization where all of the donation goes to breast cancer advocacy, awareness and research - not five per cent, as Ta-tas does.