October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Show your support!

For the second time in mass communication history, the infamous Samantha Stevens, Stephanie Butler and Darrylynn McDonald have teamed up to create a mass communications masterpiece. This time we were focused on an activist project of our own personal choice. There were so many issues that our group could have discussed and spoke about, our group is fairly opinionated. After tossing around numerous events, special days, important issues, justice issues and fun issues, we agreed upon Breast Cancer Awareness, largely promoted in the month of October. Being females, breast cancer is a disease that we are at risk of. We looked at a few facts and stories regarding the issue and agreed that it was an important topic for which we could promote awareness about.

Now that we had a topic, we had to decide how we could speak out against it. The famous symbol for the Breast Cancer Association is the pink ribbon. From this we drew the idea of a pink party. Using the colour of the recognizable pink ribbon, we would throw a party in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. Immediately we began to make plans and chose a day. We also required, decorations, food, entertainment and people! It was a party after all. Stephanie created invitations and we decorated them with pink highlighter. The day would be Thursday October 18th, 2007 at 7:30pm in the R4 common room. I folded invitations, inserted a mint and tied them with some pretty pink ribbon. It was more strenuous then it sounds. Stephanie and I then delivered them to random doors in residence, and put up posters for extra advertising.

The three of us then arranged a time and day to go shopping and to purchase various decorations and food. Out to Dollarama we ventured on a warm afternoon to gather our supplies. We bought prizes, decorations, food, treats, and more, all in pink of course. Stephanie found various facts on Breast Cancer and printed them off to use as decoration also. For entertainment, we agreed upon showing the movie Pretty In Pink, a classic movie from the eighties.

The big day came, and it was time to decorate. Stephanie and I decorated the commonroom, cutting out the printed facts and placing them on fancy pink bristol board. Balloons, streamers and pink rose petals were scattered throughout the room. The treat table was set up in the corner with cookies, candies, icing and drinks. Everything had a pink aspect of course, from pink icing and candies to pink beverages. A small station was set up for painting fingernails also. We bought a variety of pink nail polish with numerous shades for those interested in sporting, and supporting the pink ribbon.

At 7:30 we saw a few people arrive, mostly from our floor. We started the movie at 8:00 and gathered more and more viewers. People wandered the room looking at the various facts and munching on a few treats. We even got a few boys to paint their fingernails. Overall, I feel that the event was successful. I am a little disappointed at the number of people that turned out, but I enjoyed myself just the same and created awareness in even just a few individuals.
From this activist project, I have learned a great deal about Breast Cancer. Although I was aware of the disease before and have had family members experience it, I did not know many of the statistics. I was shocked to learn that one in nine woman will develop breast cancer within their lifetime and that one in 27 will die from it! These were the main facts that surprised me. I also learned about self -breast exams, which should be done at least monthly, that if a family member has had breast cancer than their children are at a higher risk of having it also. Lastly, I was shocked to find that 415 Canadian women are diagnosed with breast cancer every week! These are astounding statistics and facts that many are not aware of. I feel that it is important for woman to be aware of their risk and how to get help if anything should happen.

This issue is very important, as it appears to be an increasing risk for women. Breast cancer can be deadly unless detected at its early stages, and before it can spread throughout the body. If detected, and of a serious nature, than chemotherapy treatments may be required or removal of the breast. This often leaves women feeling incomplete and self-conscious. Here I feel is a relation to the media. Our culture and society has become so obsessed with image, that those who fail to have the perfect body outlined by society, feel inadequate. Breasts have always been a sign of a woman’s femininity; society has placed them in high regard with the development of plastic surgery and breast enlargements. A possible essay topic? Breasts: more than just female anatomy? What the does the media have to say about them?
Overall, it was a great project. Another successful job for Sam, Steph and Dee.

Breast Cancer Society of Canada. Facts on Breast Cancer. Oct 2007. 22 Oct. 2007 . http://www.bcsc.ca/breasthealth.html