Silence of the Spams

Dear Mom,

I promised you long ago that when the time came that you were too weak to fight, I would continue fighting for you. I thought that fire inside me went out the day I lost you, but yesterday I felt it ignite for the first time in over three years.

You can read Nancy's Point or Uneasy Pink for the full story, but here is the jist of what happened and my two cents (it may end up being twenty-two cents with all I have to say, but who's counting?).

"Feel Your Boobies" is a non-profit organization that campaigns towards young women to tell them to, for lack of a better term, feel their boobies. Despite the lewd comments on their Facebook page from teenage boys and even grown men revealing their desire to grab women's breasts, it's actually a campaign about early breast cancer detection and self breast exams. Who would've thought!

So, whatever, they use innappropriate slogans to appeal to the younger generation (can I exclude myself from this age group yet? I'm pretty sure I stopped fitting in when I was like 12); I can get over that. What has caused an absolute ruckus this past week was when Uneasy Pink, a breast cancer survivor, spoke up on FYB's Facebook wall to explain that comments like, "I can help with feeling the boobies if ya'll need any help!" were inappropriate, disrespectful, demeaning, and hurtful to the people who have been affected by the disease.

Uneasy Pink received an immense amount of backlash from FYB 'fans' calling her 'uptight' and accusing her of not being able to take a joke. I'm pretty sure the only jokes I read on that site are the hundreds of crude comments underminding the importance of self breast exams and making a mockery of breast cancer. Oh, and then more jokes came when all of her comments were deleted by the founder of the organization (or one of her corrupted minions), but she chose to leave all the rude comments that were written in response(Uneasy Pink took screen shots of this as it unfolded, and I highly recommend taking a peak!).

As a journalist, the thought of censorship alone makes my blood boil. Don't even get me started on how I feel about that organization taking away our Freedom of Speech, and yes, our, because I got involved too. Uneasy Pink and anyone who supported her had their comments deleted and were reported by the company as 'spam' so they could no longer comment on public pages. After reading Nancy's Point, which unveiled that FYB doesn't even put a single cent towards actual breast cancer research (research, you know, the ONLY thing that will save the people we love from this disease), I decided it was time to use my voice before it was silenced like the other 'spammers'.

Without hesitation, I posted on the FYB wall.

"Waaait a second... so your entire campaign and profits simply go toward just telling young people to 'feel your boobies'? Maybe I am misunderstanding, but... what's the point of finding a lump if there's no money going toward research to actually get rid of it and save lives? Yes, there are other organizations who raise money for research, but there is still no cure, which means other people need to step up and step in. Any chance you'll consider being the organization to do so?"


My comment was deleted within minutes.

So, let me get this straight. They'll make more money in a year than most Americans will see in their lifetime, yet they'll spend it all on cheeky t-shirts and bumper stickers rather than on cancer research? They'll delete concerns and inquiries from women who are actually (and unfortunately) a part of the cancer community, yet they'll keep comments on a picture of a girl sitting on a pink bicycle from men saying how badly they wish they were a bike seat? That's just downright embarassing. I'm embarassed for them and the freakshow they're running over there at "Feel Your Boobies".

The fact that my comment was deleted speaks more to me than any response ever could, so I have a little message for them in return:

"Although humor is important and helps us get by sometimes, the bottom line is that cancer is not a joke, and it's certainly not a pretty little picture wrapped in a silky pink bow like your organization markets it as. So go ahead and remove our comments, delete the images of what cancer really looks like, block us from your website, and report us to the myserious Facebook police. You've already done all that, and guess what? We're still here; We're still talking; And you will never silence us, so listen up FYB because I have a new slogan for you. It's called:

Feel My Finger.

...And guess which one I'm giving you?"

Love you,
Sami