Saturday, March 20, 2010
Marketing breast cancer awareness to men
17 comments
I've been on a major Freaks and Geeks kick lately, and naturally, I fell in love with Jason Segel's character, Nick (you know Jason Segel from Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I Love You, Man... but Freaks and Geeks was his much earlier work). Anywho, I went searching for an adorable photo of him to put on my desktop, and came across this one:
I said, "Ooooh, what is Men for Women Now?" and immediately went to MenForwomenNow.com to find that it is a website, designed to appeal to men, that collects donations for a breast cancer foundation. How lovely!
While I adore the idea of getting men involved in women's issues, I found the way in which the website appealed to men to be disheartening. First of all, their slogan is: It's a Matter of Life and Breast! Second of all, the main page has a big pink button that says "Save boobs now" to add their Facebook application. The page says: "When you click 'Save boobs now', in two easy steps, you can start saving boobs."
I don't like this. Is the only way to get men to join in on the fight against breast cancer to remind them that the disease threatens a woman's ability to have a great rack? I have just a little more faith in men than that... call me naive, but I think simply reminding men that breast cancer can, oh I don't know, cause deaths of their loved ones is enough to garner some concern.
This reminds me of the whole "Save the Ta-Tas!" slogan that can be seen on bumper stickers and bracelets. I know our society loves to objectify women and pretend that there isn't a brain attached to our bodies, but it really saddens me that campaigns to raise awareness for breast cancer (a women's issue!) sink to the level of society's mistreatment of us. Yes, it is called breast cancer, but it affects more than just the actual breasts... it affects a woman's entire life.
I said, "Ooooh, what is Men for Women Now?" and immediately went to MenForwomenNow.com to find that it is a website, designed to appeal to men, that collects donations for a breast cancer foundation. How lovely!
While I adore the idea of getting men involved in women's issues, I found the way in which the website appealed to men to be disheartening. First of all, their slogan is: It's a Matter of Life and Breast! Second of all, the main page has a big pink button that says "Save boobs now" to add their Facebook application. The page says: "When you click 'Save boobs now', in two easy steps, you can start saving boobs."
I don't like this. Is the only way to get men to join in on the fight against breast cancer to remind them that the disease threatens a woman's ability to have a great rack? I have just a little more faith in men than that... call me naive, but I think simply reminding men that breast cancer can, oh I don't know, cause deaths of their loved ones is enough to garner some concern.
This reminds me of the whole "Save the Ta-Tas!" slogan that can be seen on bumper stickers and bracelets. I know our society loves to objectify women and pretend that there isn't a brain attached to our bodies, but it really saddens me that campaigns to raise awareness for breast cancer (a women's issue!) sink to the level of society's mistreatment of us. Yes, it is called breast cancer, but it affects more than just the actual breasts... it affects a woman's entire life.
Posts
March 21, 2010 at 5:24 PM
I definitely agree that it is wonderful that men are being targeted to participate in the fight against breast cancer. The thing that bothers me is the exact thing that Amy brought up. It's the fact that the way they are getting men involved is not emphasizing saving the lives of women, but saving the boobs on women. Now even breast cancer research advertising is objectifying women...where will it end?
March 22, 2010 at 11:44 AM
I agree. It really sucks that this organization can't come up with a better reason to save women's lives than because of the boobs attached to their bodies. Regardless, it makes me very happy to see Jason Segel supporting a women's issue :)
March 22, 2010 at 3:39 PM
I think it's great that men want to be more involved with breast cancer awareness, but it is really sad that it seems like the only reason they want to is because of women's BOOBS! I honesetly think that the men who want to be more involved with saving women's lives aren't concerned with saving thier breasts. They make the campaign slogan discrimitory because people tend to forget, but men can get breast cancer too. Its not just about boobs!
March 29, 2010 at 10:49 AM
I agree with how the slogans totally tack away from the actual point of supporting breast cancer funds. There are shirts that say "Save second base!". I hate this slogan so much! Are people really donating money simply to support people to feel women up! With all the publicity done for breast cancer, I feel there should be better slogans to hook people. I hate seeing all these slogans that just objectify women more. Let's support breast cancer to save lives, not to save their boobs!
March 29, 2010 at 3:23 PM
The organization is trying to help. They are getting men involved. Even though they may do it in a manner that may be offensive and so forth. For those who are offended by their organization, they shouldn't accept their donations. Otherwise if you are accepting the donations then don't criticize them. it is for a good cause and obviously meant for male humor. It is the 'male' way to help women. It is impossible for men to know everything about women. If there was a female organization helping to fight testicular cancer and their button was "click to save balls" I would have no problem with it because it is for a good cause.
March 30, 2010 at 10:08 AM
I think this wounderful! Women are now not the only people trying to get the awareness of breast cancer out there. Men are probably more concerned about the fact that it's women boobs but still, their supporting women. Of course a womens sexuality has to come into play for men to even be interested. It's not often that you can find men doing something for women tho, so I guess well take what we can get, right? Although I've never heard of this "Men For Women Now" I think it's all for a good cause!
March 30, 2010 at 12:35 PM
I think that it is wonderful that men are getting involved in the fight for breast cancer. It isn't a disease that affects only women either. Men should be supportive of themselves and of women. I can understand what others are saying about it being all about "supporting boobs" but i don't completely agree. I feel like the majority of men who do get involved are involved for the right reasons.
March 30, 2010 at 2:04 PM
I think it's wonderful that men are getting involved to support a cause for women. Yes, they might be doing it with slogan's that some women might find, I don't wanna say offensive, but, you know. However, people need to keep in mind that men are trying to target the male audience, and if doing so in this way will work, why not? If funny slogans about saving the tatas or second base are gonna get men involved in fighting against breast cancer, then hooray! That's how the media is today though. They use techniques to target the specified audience. Breast cancer is a serious case, and all the support and donations that can be collected should be thanked.
March 30, 2010 at 4:23 PM
I think that it is a great thing that this organization is trying to get men involved in the fight for brest cancer. And if this is a way that can get mens attention, then I have no problem with it. I think many are over reacting and turning it into something that it isnt. It is a good cause are and they are striving to make an impact. It may not be the way others would do it or the most graceful, but it is the route they chose to take. Personaly I respect them for trying to get mens attention and inform them on the issue!
March 30, 2010 at 9:33 PM
Coming from someone who knows more than a few breast cancer survivors, I think that marketing the awareness to include men is spectacular. I have walked in the breast cancer march numerous times for friends and family members and although there are some supporting men, it is most dominated by women. To raise awareness in men and and help get support for other sources is a wonderful idea that could truly help breast cancer research. Way to go men!
August 17, 2010 at 2:12 AM
jeeze, the lady that wrote this is extremely cynical. i love that they are now not only targeting women. if you had done any research you would see that even before this 'men for women now' site began, breast cancer sites everywhere targetted women with almost exactly the same approach. it isn't objectifying women in any way, there is no controversial story about 'men for women now' (except that maybe Jason Segel looks way too cute in this picture!!!). just accept the fact that we have boobs and men love them. we should be proud that men are making the effort. if it were an organisation for men with such slogans the men would just laugh at it and move on, not write about how sexit they think it is.
November 28, 2011 at 11:55 AM
Jason Segel has a big performance in some because he is a good film actor, screenwriter, composer, puppeteer and musician. My sister is a fan of him... One of his movies (Despicable Me) is one of my favorites ones!
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