Think one person can't make a difference? THINK AGAIN.
If your name is Scorchy, also known as The Sarcastic Boob, you just power your way through. The Scorch-Meister was pissed off. I like that in a person: Pissed-offed-ness. It's what generally spurs us to action.
Scorchy was pissed off at Facebook. Why? They were censoring the photos from The Scar Project. She managed to amass over TWENTY THOUSAND signatures on a petition she launched via change.org in protest of the actions of Facebook. Here's the part where I mention that this is not the first or even the second or possibly the THIRD time someone has tried to get the powers that be at Facebook to listen.
Apparently, Facebook prevented David Jay, the internationally renowned Scar Project photographer from posting for 30 days because of this nudity violation. They also stepped on my buddy, Upstate AM, Stupid Dumb Breast Cancer and requested she stop posting photos of her mastectomy. Another person that will not be pushed around. Trust me on that one. U-AM has a heart of gold. And a spirit that shouts integrity. Push her and she WILL push back. And I love that.
Back to that petition.....and The Boob. SHE didn't give up. She didn't let it go. She kept at it until she got someone to listen. And she is made things happen. Scorchy did. And I love THAT, too. The story is just hitting the wires now and it's already in several outlets.
Thanks to Renn, The Big C and Me, a twitter newbie for getting that in 140 characters so I would see this stupendous turn of events. In several places....
ABC News Health Blog
The NY Daily News
C-NET!!!
Chicago Tribune
And on and on...
In a side note, in one of those oddly timed coincidences, I received a secret Facebook message just as all of this was unfolding....... The same stupidity is circulating behind the scenes yet again on Facebook. You know, the one about the color or your bra or where you keep your handbag. In the spirit of raising REAL awareness, I AM going to be a buzzkill....And yes, I did post it on Facebook, too. Despite the warnings NOT TO TELL THE GUYS. What are we here, in 2nd grade???? The groan heard round the world:
"It's that time of year again...support breast cancer awareness! So last year's game was writing your bra color as your status? Or the way we like to have our handbag handy? Last year, so many people took part that it made national news... and the constant updating of status reminded everyone why we're doing this and helped raise awareness! Do NOT tell any males what the status means...keep them guessing!! And please copy And paste this in a message to all your female friends. The idea is to choose the month you were born and the day you born. Pass this on to the GIRLS ONLY and let's see how far it reaches around. The last one about the bra went all over the world. YOUR STATUS SHOULD SAY: "I am going to Mexico for 21 months. "The month you were born is the Place you are going, and the day you were should be how many months you are gone....January - Mexico February - London March - Miami April - Dominican Republic May - Paris, France June - RomeJuly - Hawaii August - California September - New York October - Puerto Rico November - Las Vegas December - Australia Please do it, don't be a spoil sport...show your awareness for Breast Cancer! Don't forget to pass it on!!!"
REALLY??? Ummmmm. No. Can someone tell me how the hell THAT is raising awareness? How the hell is that doing anything to show the reality that is breast cancer. The scars. The long term fallout. The deaths. And if you think I'm being sour grapes, click to this post in memory of Susan Neibur. She quite eloquently explains why these "harmless meme's" are like "ripping off a scab." The video is embedded within the post. Please do listen.
I'd like to say that my head is bouncing between two Alicia Keys tunes at this moment.... Proud of my fellow New Yorkers-Scorchy and Upstate AM for making noise. I love noise......
"Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, let's hear it for New York....." because "This Girl is on FIRE."
This one's for you Scorchy. NOW, about that trending on twitter thing. Give me a little time. I'll make it happen. Damn, sistah, you earned it! And where's Upstate AM as all of this is unfolding???? Sending out a posse.
dear annemarie,
ReplyDeletethank you so much for featuring scorchy and am on this post. i read every article of the news outlets you provided - they gave me goosebumps and enormous pride for what can-do attitudes have achieved. hopefully, the public will finally see the scar project and personal photos of the aftermath of mastectomies and begin to "get it". and i hope those stupid memes with their infantile messages get stopped in their tracks.
love you, XOXOXOXO
karen
You know I hated this sentence "You got this" but ya know what .... WE GOT THIS!! love my breasties!
ReplyDeleteI commented on Scorchy's post and repeat here; Scorchy noted that "Facebook does not actively search for content to remove, but only reviews content after it has been reported." So who the hell reported SCAR as offensive? To these folks I say, yeah, bikini clad women for breast cancer fundraisers is ok, but this, REAL breast cancer images, is not? Mastectomy or lumpectomy scars are offensive? Puh-leeze! Trust me I find cancer and death offensive too. But being offended doesn't make it go away (or make the offended person right, to paraphrase Ricky Gervais). Hope these easily offended ones don't get cancer, how will they ever look in the mirror?
ReplyDeleteI love how everyone rallied and Scorchy pulled it together with her petition and follow through. Really impressive - and the results speak for themselves! ~Catherine
ReplyDeleteTo those who reported The Scar Project as offensive, I say: You should be offended. You should be offended that there still is no cure for cancer. You should be offended that women and men are scarred for life. You should be offended that women are being mutilated in order to survive breast cancer. Thank you, Scorchy.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting this, AnneMarie. THIS is what I call Breast Cancer awareness. I posted the ABC link to my facebook page and my Twitter account. God bless Scorchy and AM for stirring all this up!!!
ReplyDeleteEllen xoxo
Hooray for hell-raising women!
ReplyDeleteLet's hear it for the Grumblers!!! ;-) Hip-Hip Horray!
ReplyDelete