I found it amusing that the brothers of Sigma Nu found a noble cause for dropping their pants. But really, would breast cancer awareness be the first thing that comes to your mind when you see a pants-less frat boy? Somehow I don’t think so.

Sigma Nu isn’t the only organization using society’s fascination with sex to promote a worthy cause. “Save the Tatas” is another well-known breast cancer awareness campaign that plays on society’s obsession with the female anatomy in more ways than the clever title. Their website, www.savethetatas.com, features a wide array of tight, form-fitting T-shirts and tank tops bearing the logo that, oddly enough, show off the very appendages that countless women have suffered the loss of.

Imagine how you would feel after having a double mastectomy, seeing pictures of young, smiling women with perky boobs on a website that is designed to make people care about breast cancer. The creators of the organization sure have a funny way of demonstrating their so-called compassion.

I also find it interesting that hardly any media attention is given to other forms of cancer in the same way it does to breast cancer. Is it sexual connotations in general, or just the sexual connotations regarding the female body that make campaigns like “Save the Tatas” so popular? If it’s just any kind of sexual attention, then why aren’t there any “Save the Junk” campaigns to create awareness of testicular cancer? Why aren’t there any form-fitting boxer briefs bearing that clever slogan to appeal to young college-aged men, who, by the way, are the primary targets of that disease? Maybe it’s because society has an unhealthy obsession with the female anatomy, even if the female anatomy happens to be prone to an awful disease.

If you want to create awareness and raise money for breast cancer (or any kind of cancer), start by sharing the facts. If you have to be enticed by skin-tight clothing or frat boys with no pants to be motivated to help, please evaluate whether you have a conscience. Both of my grandmothers have suffered breast cancer, and my father is a multiple cancer survivor, so I think that cancer is very serious business. No cause, regardless of how noble the intentions behind it, is worth exploiting the human body.

SarahBeth Caplin is a senior English major and a columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].