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Loading...Breast Cancer Campaign Quickly Becomes Porn
In a bizarre twist on the seemingly neverending offensive breast cancer campaigns, a New Zealand website called “NZGirl” asked its users to send in pictures of their breasts to raise money for cancer research. Through its “I’ve Got A Lovely Pair” campaign, the site promised to donated $1000 to cancer research for every 50 photos uploaded by its fans. The montage is here (although be warned – it’s NSFW) and they’re continuing to accept submissions, despite the commotion that quickly arose after the campaign was announced.
The campaign’s promotion was blunt: “So what are you waiting for – it’s time to get your tits out for the girls.” And, if you thought the whole charade couldn’t get tackier, users can actually tweet the photos or “like” them on Facebook. Jezebel writer Anna North points out that although the site is ostensibly for women, most of the comments come from male usernames.
The obvious danger of this venture (apart from being completely tasteless and misogynistic) was that the pictures would end up in places other than the original site – which they did. Commenters were already slamming the site for exploiting women’s bodies when one clever viewer uploaded some of the photos to a porn site called “XTube.” The whole thing could be illegal, too; after all, there doesn’t seem to be a way to filter out photos of breasts from girls under the age of 18, which would violate New Zealand’s child pornography laws.
People are justifiably enraged by the whole situation. Tne user wrote, “Why not stop pretending this is anything other than a cheap opportunity to raise your profile by exploiting both a worthy cause and women’s bodies.” As Anna North rightly says, the site needs to apologize to its users, but this is also yet another disturbing example of the attempt to make breast cancer “hot” or “sexy.” Like the “Boobies” bracelet scandal from earlier this year, and any number of other campaigns that objectify women’s bodies in the name of women’s health, this is a transparently sexist venture that has nothing to do with promoting women’s health or wellbeing and ultimately trivializes a life-threatening disease.
Read more: breast cancer, breast cancer awareness, essentialism, objectification, pink ribbon, sexism, womens rights
Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
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@ Dale -- I wouldn't characterize Jenny McCarthy's crude post hoc, ergo propter hoc reasoning (her son…
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81 comments
+ add your ownThose that regularly and actively watch hard core porn would hardly find breasts to be major attraction.
The cause is more important than the pictures.
There is a lot more to skin than just the breasts.
I refuse to look at the montage. I will not be a party to porn and the further degradation of women.
Cancer strikes some of the other reproductive organs also. 'Nuff said!
John Bauer, it's not that people shouldn't be turned on by breasts, it's that the whole idea of this campaign is ridiculous (getting forwarded to porno sites? Talk about distracting from the original issue! Obviously, uploading random pictures of people's testicles to raise awareness for testicular cancer would be stupid, too!), and people are sick of that "outward attention" being projected onto anything and everything, so that it all comes down to nothing but cheap T & A with no useful purpose for the cause.
the point is to help these women not turn it into a porn show
I'm amazed that people are shocked by this. What about a website for testicular cancer. Guys take pictures of their testicles and penis and then we will see how many comments show up. People who are turned on by breasts, despite the fact that it is there for breast cancer awareness, will show outward attention.
Dave Abbott, just why do you supppose women have such issues with their breats in the first place huh?
This is utterly ridiculous...
Thanks for the article.
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