Turning down a request "for a good cause"

[Nurvingiel]

Why were men excluded from participating when they also get breast cancer?

That thought also occurred to me when I read the first email about the colors.

Probably because they don't (assumably) wear bras.

I feel like it goes against the spirit of the whole thing. Are you truly trying to raise awareness or just send out some chain mail couched as something it's not? If it's the former, then surely men could have been included in some way? The exclusion of males makes me feel like really it's the latter.

Yeah, why not "what colour is your underwear"? Of course, some of my guy friends posted the colour of their underwear anyway.

[rockchalk]

I still don't understand how this brings attention to breast cancer?  And why does breast cancer need so very much attention when it's not even the leading cause of death in women?

Everyone reading this thread has now thought about breast cancer; there was an article in a major US paper about it (see photochick's post); blogs and other comments have just made people think about it.

And while it isn't the leading cause of death in women and can be a problem for men as well, it is still a serious cancer that affects the lives of almost everyone in one way or the other.

And yes, I posted my bra color and then while I was in the shower that night I did a self-examination because it was on my mind.

POD. This. One thousand times, this. Everybody is aware of breast cancer. But being aware is different than being confronted with it in such a unified way. And also like PP's have said, the "fans" of the SG page, and website have gone up exponentially. Meaning, in all likely hood, young adults are learning for themselves how to screen, test and do self exams.

As to the etiquette question, POD to the posters who have said it is not rude to ignore that kind of message, or reply in a "No thanks, but good luck!" type of way.

[PeasNCues]

Why were men excluded from participating when they also get breast cancer?

That thought also occurred to me when I read the first email about the colors.

Probably because they don't (assumably) wear bras.

Because only people who wear bras get breast cancer?

The percentage of men who die from breast cancer is a lot higher then the percentage of women because many people don't realize men can get breast cancer. This didn't help dispel that assumption.

That is certainly not what I meant, I'm really not an idiot, trust me .

I only meant that because it was about bre*sts, and bre*sts are supported by bras - mostly on women, the thing sent around to post the color of bras. Since men don't wear bras and women do, then it was not sent to men.

It seems logical to me, buy YMMV.

[look in the tunk]

I didn't post my bra color. But for me, it just came down to not wanting to share that information in such a public way. Not so much that the cause was silly, but I was not not comfortable sharing that information.

My inbox also got the dreaded "reply to all." I just deleted those.

[wolfie]

Why were men excluded from participating when they also get breast cancer?

That thought also occurred to me when I read the first email about the colors.

Probably because they don\'t (assumably) wear bras.

Because only people who wear bras get breast cancer?

The percentage of men who die from breast cancer is a lot higher then the percentage of women because many people don\'t realize men can get breast cancer. This didn\'t help dispel that assumption.

That is certainly not what I meant, I\'m really not an idiot, trust me .

I only meant that because it was about bre*sts, and bre*sts are supported by bras - mostly on women, the thing sent around to post the color of bras. Since men don\'t wear bras and women do, then it was not sent to men.

It seems logical to me, buy YMMV.

I didn\'t mean that is what you thought, but that many people do think that men can\'t get breast cancer and this request didn\'t do anything to dispel that myth but it did help to perpetuate it since it intentionally left out the men.

[Emmeline]

I posted the colour but didn't pass on the messages to anyone else - I figured most of my friends would already have got it from someone else.

I received several messages myself, and in a status update posted a request not to be sent it anymore (nicely!).

[Nurvingiel]

Why were men excluded from participating when they also get breast cancer?

That thought also occurred to me when I read the first email about the colors.

Probably because they don't (assumably) wear bras.

Because only people who wear bras get breast cancer?

The percentage of men who die from breast cancer is a lot higher then the percentage of women because many people don't realize men can get breast cancer. This didn't help dispel that assumption.

That is certainly not what I meant, I'm really not an idiot, trust me .

I only meant that because it was about bre*sts, and bre*sts are supported by bras - mostly on women, the thing sent around to post the color of bras. Since men don't wear bras and women do, then it was not sent to men.

It seems logical to me, buy YMMV.

Of course, if anyone needs awareness about breast cancer it is men. Women are aware up the ying yang. Men with breast cancer still have to deal with "men can't have breast cancer, wha?" confusion when trying to deal with their illness.