I'll take purple over pink

It's October.  That time of year when you buy a pink colored product that has breast cancer causing chemicals from a company that donates a minuscule amount to charity.  It's also that time of year where Facebook annoys the crap out of me with silly little pranks disguised as awareness.  Because, you know, there are so many people unaware that breast cancer exists.  Oh - don't let the guys in on that game! Is this helpful in any way? Am I a “spoil sport” for refusing to play along? Are we hiding this “TRUTH” from the men because we don’t want them to know that men can get breast cancer too?   There is always something better you could be doing.  I know I sound a bit cynical. I am not saying that breast cancer is no big deal.  To the people effected by it, it could be life changing.   I am just tired of people patting themselves on the back for buying a bag of potato chips with pink packaging and thinking they saved the world.  

What I am passionate about is October being Domestic Violence Awareness month.  But, that gets no where near the time, money, or attention that it should. Did you know that 1 in every 4 women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime? That's a lot! That's double the amount of women who will get breast cancer.  Yet, domestic violence gets looked over all the time.  

Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic affecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Violence against women is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior, and thus is part of a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence results in physical injury,
psychological trauma, and sometimes death. The consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and truly last a lifetime.

That's why I will be wearing a purple ribbon in October, not a pink one.