Seeing Pink

In Iowa's 97-89 triple over-time victory over Penn State on Feb 1, both teams pulled out the pink uniforms in the annual "Pink Zone" game. With its efforts used to bring awareness to breast cancer, the annual game has many more underlying social issues.


The "Pink Zone" breast cancer awareness separates the responsibility from men and women, which leads me to disagree with the issue entirely. Not in the sense that I dislike or even disapprove of the awareness that is created.

Rather, that the issue of breast cancer is solely placed on the shoulder's of women.


With the severity of cancer, particularly breast cancer, and the ever growing concern in the United States and around the world, it is time to make it more of a social concern and less of a genderized problem.According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, in 2004, 1,815 men were diagnosed with breast cancer. Although significantly lower than the 186,722 women diagnosed in the same year, it is still worth mentioning.


Which brings up the question, why are men's teams not taking more of a stance in the fight against breast cancer?Even if you disregard the fact that men suffer from the disease all together, why do they not take a stance in support of their mothers, daughters, sisters and wives? (photo from notmytribe.com)


With pink stepping in as the unofficial color for breast cancer awareness, it seems more likely that the reason men's teams are not actively participating in the fight against breast cancer is because of the femininity associated with the color pink.Although this does not seem like a viable answer, as men have started to introduce pink into their daily wardrobes – as seen by hundreds of male fans in attendance– it does seem to be the underlying issue.


The only major men's sport that plays an active role in breast cancer awareness is Major League Baseball – whose players use pink bats annually on Mother's Day. If more men's sports created awareness towards breast cancer, the issue of breast cancer would be even more prevalent.Another potential option for men's sports, if they continue to not jump in on the support of breast cancer awareness, is to support their own genderized cause, prostate cancer.
Although an-eye-for-an-eye is not a creed parents teach their kids to live by, it may be one of the few positive options men's sports can grab onto.


Similarly, if women's sports played their part in an attempt to provide awareness towards prostate cancer, the issue of prostate cancer would be more prevalent as well.Cancer is not an individual concern, it is a societal concern. In order to curb the potential effects of cancer, society needs to work together to stop it all together.


The world has come a long way in regards to gender discrimination, so why continue it on the basketball court? No right minded person can say they do not support breast cancer awareness, so why don't the male athletes show theirs