NFL Pink Month

I was actually afraid to post this for fear of being attacked as some sort of misogynist jerk, but I find the NFL’s “pink month," with players wearing the fluorescent socks, gloves, towels and what have you, for the Susan G. Komen corporation breast cancer “awareness,” seriously annoying. I think we’re already pretty well aware of breast cancer by now.

Then I was referred to this breast cancer survivor who is even more annoyed by the whole “pink month thing” than I am, and there are a dozen or more comments following her post of fellow cancer survivors who agreed whole heartedly with her. Read her article; she’s a nice lady. It struck a sympathetic note for me, in that I have Parkinson’s Disease, and I have no more desire to make a career out of that issue than those ladies do to put on pink tee shirts and join a parade. I have a life, and it isn’t about what cells my brain may or may not be producing.

Back to the NFL, it occurs to me to wonder, what color does the NFL wear for Leukemia, and in what month does it wear that color? What color does the NFL wear for ALS, and in what month does it wear that color? It only sponsors cancer "awareness," and only one form of cancer; that which is specific, essentially, to women.

Magnanimous? I think not. The NFL is pandering to a specific demographic in order to secure and expand its female fan base, and exploiting women in the process. I actually respect those players who choose not to go along. Real football players don’t wear pink.