The History of the Pink Ribbon

Originally published to Facebook group The Joyous Beauty Community on October 8, 2019, with special thanks to Linda for some excerpts about this topic that drove me to go read this book. Edited and updated October 7, 2023.

Do you know the history of the Pink Ribbon - the symbol of Breast Cancer Awareness Month?

Honestly, friend, I had no idea where this concept originated, though I had a pretty good idea of why it came about. But in case you want a little historical background, here are some interesting details found in Not Just A Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry by Stacy Malkan, a book that took me on the inside of the beauty industry as it pertains to the political jostling behind the scenes, and which organizations and individuals are working to better public health.

Here are some quick facts:

1) The pink ribbon was originally neither pink nor intended to be used as a marketing tool.

2) It was a peach ribbon developed by Charlotte Haley in the early 1990s - she watched her daughter, sister, and grandmother suffer from breast cancer, and wanted to bring awareness to a growing health problem.

3) Determined to start a grassroots movement, she sat down at her dining room table and handcrafted thousands of peach ribbons.

4) She put it on cards that read: “The National Cancer Institute annual budget is $1.8 billion; only 5 percent goes for cancer prevention. Help us wake up our legislators and America by wearing this ribbon.” She distributed her cards at her local supermarket and wrote to Dear Abby and other prominent women to bring awareness to her campaign.

About that time, awareness about breast cancer was starting to come to the forefront of the public mind. A couple of major corporations had big plans to capitalize on this awareness. Estée Lauder and Self magazine had teamed up to create their second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month issue, and they envisioned a breast cancer ribbon displayed on cosmetics counters from coast to coast.

However, they were told that somebody already had a breast cancer ribbon, so they called Charlotte and offered to partner with her, which would take her peach ribbon national. Charlotte wanted nothing to do with them because they were so commercial, Self told MAMM Magazine during an interview.

For Charlotte, the ribbon was a tool to inspire women to become politically active, not to sell products. But her vision was not to be realized. Estée Lauder and Self’s lawyers advised them to choose another color. Pink, that life-affirming color known for its calming, quieting, stress-reducing effects, was the color they landed on because studies had shown that it was warm, happy, pleasant and playful – everything that breast cancer is not to the women living with the disease.

That’s how the pink ribbon was born, and Charlotte Haley’s peach ribbon just disappeared, inundated under pink ribbons ever after.

For so many women, wearing the pink ribbon and participating in community events is important and validating. But the pink ribbon, with its carefully contrived message about “awareness” and “hoping for the cure,” also serves to distract from a deeper public discussion about the preventable causes of breast cancer.

We hear a lot about pharmaceutical solutions for breast cancer but not much about prevention strategies such as cleaning up carcinogens in the environment. We hear that fewer women are dying of cancer but there’s little discussion about how many more women are GETTING the disease. We are told to take personal responsibility and make good lifestyle choices, such as eating right and exercising. But there’s barely a whisper about the industry’s responsibility to reduce pollution and use precaution.

I'm going to share the resources and information that I've learned over the past few years here this month, my friend. It's my opinion that almost everyone is aware of the rising rates and problems associated with breast cancer...

It's time to start doing what we can to raise cancer prevention rates.

Did you find this article interesting? Please share your thoughts and send it on to a friend who might want to know more.

Source:

Malkan, Stacy. Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side to the Beauty Industry. New Society Publishers, British Columbia, Canada; pg. 83-84.