Telling the World Your Bra Color is Doing NOTHING for Breast Cancer Research.

Last Wednesday, I received the following message from a CO-WORKER on Facebook:

"We are playing a game...... silly, but fun! Right the color of your bra as your status, just the color, nothing else!! Copy this and pass it on to all girls/Females ...... NO MEN!! This will be fun to see how it spreads, and we are leaving the men wondering why all females just have a color as their status!! LOL!
And to confuse them even more, write down the size of bed you prefer, small or big! LOL! pass the word"

First, I have to issue this disclaimer--this post in no way reflects on my opinion of this co-worker. In fact, she is pretty much awesome, but I have to make my feelings known on this Facebook outbreak.

Grammatical errors aside, I was a bit astounded when I read this message. Obviously, everyone is going to know what these colors mean if every female starts posting a color as their status. And, why do I want all of my friends on Facebook to know what color bra I am wearing? If I wanted them to know, I would wear my bra on the outside of my shirt. When some Facebook posts ensued from a friend telling everyone to stop posting their bra colors, people began claiming that the status updates were supporting breast cancer awarenss. My first thought was that if that was so, what does the size of the bed you sleep in have to do with breast cancer awareness? I'd like to see someone explain that for me.


The next day, I decided to do some research. It turns out that the origin of this Facebook message is still undetermined (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/color-status-facebook-raises-curiosity-money-viral-internet/story?id=9513986&page=1curiosity-money-viral-internet/story?id=9513986&page=1). Agencies in Detroit seem to be taking credit for the release of the Facebook message, even though they have no legitimate claim to its origin. If the message did originate in Detroit, that would make complete sense! Obviously, all of America and the western world want to follow in Detroit's footsteps--they are a leader in so many other arenas of public interest (insert sarcasm here).

One article I read on Friday described the message as promoting breast cancer awareness because, as you look in your shirt to see what bra color you are wearing, you will perform a breast self-exam. I HIGHLY doubt that is happening. I know that if I have to look to see what color bra I have on, I am NOT going to perform a breast self-exam in the middle of my cubicle, living room, etc.

Additionally, this message is being spread among only females, supposedly. Do people not understand that males can have breast cancer, too? Noted, most do not wear bras, but shouldn't they be allowed to participate in the status updating?

My point here is: posting your bra color does nothing to prevent breast cancer from occuring in the future. No one would have ever thought that posting your bra color had anything to do with breast cancer awarenss until this silly rumor was (most likely) fabricated as a valid excuse for women to post their bra colors in a public forum. Agencies supporting breast cancer research and awareness are basking in the glory of this Facebook phenomenon and its side effects that had nothing to do with their mission to make the public aware of breast cancer and methods of prevention.