From the Choose Hope website:
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| Ribbon colors and meanings from http://www.choosehope.com/ |
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| From http://www.choosehope.com/ |
Reminds me too of all the colored bracelets we wore in school, stacked up our wrists almost to our elbows. Madonna: early supporter against Melanoma?
More than raising awareness, these kinds of products let people feel like they're doing something, part of something, that can often feel so helpless. In the spirit of deliberating over this new information of so many causes, pardon as I share some random musings.
1. Not a fan of the black. If I had to pick a cause, I'd want it to be bright and beautiful. Melanoma = black? Murder? How bleak!
2. Ditto for grey. Brain cancer = grey. Seems like grey matter issue, so makes sense. Grey can also be for lead poisoning, allergies, or diabetes.
3. There is a lot going on for orange. Putting world hunger and feral cats into the same band category doesn't seem like a good idea. Is there peer review for these colors?
4. Pearl, you are a cheater and are gray (lung cancer). Same goes for you silver. Interesting that you can combine them for different meanings, ie pearl next to white for non-smoker lung cancer awareness.
5. When in doubt, wear red. Seems to cover the most causes.
6. I did not realize that Native American Repatriation had an awareness band: turqouis.
7. Indigo seems to be wide open. If you have a cause, claim it now!
8. I didn't think about it before, but are these bands international? There are many national interests represented for some of the colors. For example, Save Darfur (green), Ukranian Orange Revolution of 2004, and Canadian Cancer Society is yellow.
9. Brown, I have some issues. Anti-tobacco causes seem to go for brown. I get it, but again, if you're against tobacco something brighter might do.
10. Whatever I think of the color band/ribbon system, it gets points for being open and inclusive. I like the move towards combination colors. How about patterns? Maybe leopard print!
Me? I'm a plum.
What color are you?
Just now getting to read this. Didn't expect this to be the entry that made me burst into tears, but I also didn't know there was a ribbon representing lymphoma, which my Uncle Mac died of when I was three.
ReplyDeleteI think, sometimes because of the preponderance, ribbons can be so easy to gloss over--if I'd ever seen a lime ribbon, I would have had no idea what it stood for. I didn't realize how personally powerful they could be, and what a great point for starting dialogue, until reading your post.
This past February, my husband of nearly 29 years ordered a light purple one for prostate cancer. On Tuesday, we will find out if I need to order one for myself in burgundy, head and neck. I think the waiting has to be worse than the diagnosis. If it is malignant, then we stand straight and tall, ready for battle. Not, knowing since June 9 is the PITS!
DeleteMy mom is a surviver of breast cancer without treatment she would have died and I wouldn't be around without her getting treatment.
ReplyDeleteI wear teal for my aunt who passed away from ovarian cancer. I also wear pink for a teacher who passed away from breast cancer. I just don't know what to wear for my grandma who passed away from salivary gland cancer.
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