At the start of the 21st Century, the American public had come to identify pink ribbons with a campaign for increased research on breast cancer. Yet public perception had not always made pink ribbons synonymous with concerns over breast cancer. In fact, concerns about breast cancer received only passing notice until the mid 1970's.
During the short time that President Ford was in office, his wife Betty disclosed that she had breast cancer. Although that announcement did not give rise to a sudden show of pink ribbons, it did help to raise the public awareness of breast cancer. Some fifteen years later, other high-profile Washington women also admitted to requesting one or more treatments for breast cancer.
When prominent individuals must deal with a medical condition, the public automatically shows an interest in research on that condition. That effect served to increase the public concern for issues relating to breast cancer. Wise women, however, realized that all breast cancer patients could benefit from an ability to maintain that concern. They wanted a feminine way to remind people about the need for more research on breast cancer. Eventually they decided to use the presence of pink ribbons.
The yellow ribbon had become a popular symbol during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979. The public had come to identify a colored ribbon with a burning social issue. It thus seemed logical to use pink ribbons as symbols of support for breast cancer research. That was how pink ribbons came to decorate a diverse array of items. Now many breast cancer organizations came to benefit from the sale of items with pink ribbons.
Today those items are offered by the operators of the pink ribbon shop. That shop contains many different items that are decorated with pink ribbons. It has jewelry, mugs, umbrellas, scarves, headbands, plastic lunch bags, socks and T-shirts. It has tiny purses and large totes. It even has an angel wall hanging.
All of those items can be found at the pink ribbon shop. All of those items can be purchased by the online shopper. A percentage of the money from each purchase goes to organizations that promote greater awareness of breast cancer. Users of the purchased items help to raise the awareness of breast cancer.
As the list of pink ribbon items continues to grow, the number of purchases grows as well. Thus far the donations made possible through the sale of pink ribbon items have totaled more than $12, 491. Other money comes from the sale of certain Avon products. The total funds secured through such online sales have added years to the life of many breast cancer survivors.
A sizable number of those survivors have purchased at least one item with the pink ribbon symbol. The growing list of breast cancer survivors thus creates a stronger public presence for each pink ribbon item. The survivors do not let the public to forget that more money is needed for breast cancer research. The survivors and their pink ribbon items have increased the public concern for issues relating to breast cancer.