National Breast Cancer Foundation CAT5 cable in pink... with crystals
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Jan 8th 2008 12:23PM
posted Jan 8th 2008 12:23PM
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I am so sick of pink breast cancer awareness crap. First off, pink electronics are so incredibly patronizing. How do women put up with that crap?
Second, way to completely marginalize the large number of men who suffer from breast cancer every year. Pick a color every man hates. Brilliant. Make pink the color for cervical cancer, or something men can't get. Don't pick a color that's specifically chosen because it's identified with women.
It is a shame that you are so threatened sexually that pink sends you in an uproar.
In women it is the highest type of cancer causing death. It is less common in men. Besides we have our own cancers we need to worry about.
Check the mortality rates of breast cancer vs prostate cancer, then check the amount of funding that goes to breast cancer vs prostate cancer. It seems one is "overfunded" and one is almost forgotten.
Oh, puh-lease, I'm far from sexually-threatened. But it is an insult to choose a color specifically because it's identified with women (it's not about how I identify it, it's about the marketing and cultural identification) and apply it to a disease that affects many men, as well. Yes, it's less common in men, but cervical cancer is non-existent in men, so wouldn't that be a smarter choice for the color, while leaving this disease a bit more gender-neutral? Hell, purple's still considered moderately feminine but doesn't disgust some men half as much as pink (come on, it's a hideous color, and looks passable at best only on women), so how about that? Oh, wait, that's taken by Alzheimer's now.
And yes, we do have our own cancers to deal with. But we also have THIS cancer to deal with. Should we just ignore that fact? Pretend it's only a women's disease? Plus, the more you market it as a woman's cancer, the less men are even AWARE that they can get it and are less likely to have themselves checked out. By marginalizing the men with breast cancer you also put their very lives at risk.
I'm not threatened, because unlike the average person I'm educated enough to know that men get the disease. But I'm preemptively insulted because I know if I had the disease I'd see every pink piece of electronics going to breast cancer research as a slap in the face as the whole world would obviously believe I didn't exist. Don't you get that? It's not a sexual thing at all. It's a matter of being recognized.
@ Turbofool
How about STFU? That's not the big picture here.
I love it when something as simple as a color can offend the easily offended. Now... where did I put my pink trousers -- I want to offend as many frigtards as possible today.
@ Turbofool.
Stop being an idiotic. Women fought for this awareness for over many years. Why don't you get off your ass and join the Prostate Cancer society and be their outspoken voice if you think they aren't getting enough attention? I'm sorry but men are too proud or too embarrassed to be marching down the street in numbers for Prostate Cancer. So there you have your low number of funding. Women joining them will probably help them get off their ass and become less embarrassing. So please stop with your stupidity.
I agree with TurboFool...it's not considered being sexist when it is the male being discriminated (even though this isn't discrimination, you get my point).
WIKI:
Pink in gender
______________
In Western culture, the practice of assigning pink to an individual gender began in the 1920s[3]. From then until the 1940s, pink was considered appropriate for boys because it was the more masculine and decided color while blue was considered appropriate for girls because it was the more delicate and dainty color[4][5]. Since the 1940s, the societal norm apparently inverted so that pink became appropriate for girls and blue appropriate for boys, a practice that has continued into the 21st century[6].
Umm... *nervous* I agree with you, pink is not for men *hides pink RAZR*
The reason a disproportionate amount of attention is paid to breast cancer in women as opposed to the much-more-deadly prostate cancer in men, is because we, as a society, are very superficial and appearance-focused.
Let me outline this for you: Nobody ever sees my prostate. It's not the central focus of ANY of my clothing. No billboard or advertisement ever seduced anyone by showing a man's prostate. They do not have an entire fashion industry focused around the prostate. Women look at my face when they speak to me, and as far as I know they are unable to even SEE my prostate, or even a hint of it, under my clothes.
Breasts get more PR because they're breasts. Especially here in the west, we're obsessed with breasts (and oh my goodness, I didn't mean that to rhyme!) We stare at them every chance we get. They're all over the place-- On TV, in magazines, and as the main focus of a woman's sexuality... And breast cancer can do worse than kill a woman; It can cause her to lose a breast, thus (supposedly) stripping her of her sexuality, part of her identity as a woman, and her ability to wear 75% of the sexy clothes she once relied on. It has a profound psychological effect, and because we're ALL obsessed with boobs, we're ALL concerned about a disease that-- in effect-- destroys tits.
At least, that's why we're supposed to be more concerned about breast cancer than prostate cancer. If you get prostate cancer and die, you're "just" dead. Boo hoo. If you're a woman and you get breast cancer and go through a mastectomy, then western society considers you shamed, sexless, scarred, undesirable, and pitiable. We mourn the loss of a breast more than the loss of a man's life, in some cases.
These are generalizations, of course, but what it all comes down to is that your prostate will never, EVER be more interesting to our society than a nice pair of tits. Sorry. It's the truth.
Do I really care about some guy's ass?
While I'm do not completely agree with everything TurboFool has said, I do think he has a point, and one I was thinking about before I even read the comments. If they really want to "support" the cause, why put it in a color even some women won't buy? A woman I sit next to at work, feminine as she is, hates pink. Nearly all the women I know have a preference toward either blue or red (more blue than red). I'd love to support a cause, but not if it means I gotta buy pink products.
I propose an idea... instead of making the products so pink, why not either A: use a more subtle approach, like a pink ribbon logo, or a pink stripe or accent, or B: make the packaging pink but not the product. I'd support either one... just don't make me have to use a pink product to 'voice my support'.
I saw these at Fry's last week. Don't worry, I wasn't looking them.
I guess it makes sense to help save breasts by spending money on the same thing that brings them to you!
You "saw" them, but you didn't "look" at them. Right!
At first glance, I thought we were getting new Hello Kitty network cables ;)
Great. Crystals.
I like boobs.
lol
wow, that's an amazing comment
GOD DAMMIT I KEEP SCREWING UP MY COMMENTS. i give up i'm going to go read cnet and mossberg reviews.
I'd just give money directly to the foundation and skip all this buy-my-pink-bling-and-we'll-donate-a-few-pennies shit.
Keep your eyes open at the clearance stash soon
Insulting marketing. Seriously, who buys this stuff? Like someone above said, donate money directly rather than paying several extra dollars for a product that then translates into two cents donated to the cause. And crystals? Mother of god. It's a frigging CAT5 cable.
The crystals make it go faster.
Are they dilithium?
-jp
now woman can buy a cable that they have no idea what to do with in their favorite color!
wow, that's a ignorant comment, do you know any females?
yes, i know plenty.
Heres a few examples to support my claims:
My girlfriend calls me up to help her set up her internet, i run her through the basic troubleshooting before i actually go physically help her. I get there and start checking her IP settings... and theres no connection. I check the plug.... to only find she loosely stuck a phone cord in the Ethernet port, upside down, and had the other end in the same fashion, only right side up, in her Ethernet outlet.
She also has multiple ethernet cables at her disposal that i gave her, but she had no idea there was a difference.
i also do over the phone tech support and i have had many calls when women don't understand the difference between a 8 wire/pin(the wide one) and a 4 wire/pin cord. i have had the same problem happen when guys call in, but it is maybe 1/8th of the number of women.
ONE EIGHTH.
This is so damn ridiculous. I just love it.
I don't care about the cancer spin, but pink CAT5 cables with crystals, that's just the best. If you know a girl with a little humor that is ...
This story contains the best comments ever.
I like the fact that they write "PINK" on it. Because i wasn't sure there for a second.
I wonder what my GF would do if she got one of these for birthday......
Her : WOW! Pinkkk i Love you...
her : Ohhh its some weird cable for computer?
Me: Yes! its for you modem...
Her : Im gonna kill ya!!
Something like that...
Idk if it's in the small print, BUT I don't actually see where it says any portion of the proceeds goes to breast cancer research. :/
I don't see it anywhere either. That seems to be the only place they mention being a sponsor. Personally, I don't trust a website that can keep a list of its product categories in alphabetical order.
For a very brief moment there I thought you guys were going to introduce a Hello Kitty CAT5 cable.
greatness... now what to i am do with cable i put bling on already? have left overs froms cell phone and ipods.
Kawaii!!!!!!!!!!!!
¬_¬
Anyone else notice they use the xbox 360 logo?
Wow, what a giant lot of ignorant fools.
I happen to be a 28 year old woman who enjoys things that are pink. I will pay extra money for something that is pink - the fact that often times my extra expenditure supports Breast Cancer Awareness is just a bonus. I would imagine there are other women who support my view.
To argue that men with breast cancer don't get the attention that women do is pointless. The fact that women are bringing so much attention to this particular cause can only be good for the small number of men who happen to suffer from breast cancer.
And to think that all women wouldn't understand what to do with this cable is just a sexist assumption on all of your parts. I happen to know how to fix the wireless network in my apartment better than my husband when it breaks down, and if while doing that, I get to enjoy a pink CAT5 cable, well, that just sweetens the deal for me.
well it's a good thing the marketing machine got you,
I'm sure less than 1% of the proceeds go to breast cancer.
and these cables that cost like $10 or more almost anywhere cost about 10 cents to make, package, and ship. I'm sure the pink dye used for these costs just as much as the gray, so thats just a premium these people put in their pockets.
Not to mention i have to hear about color coordination from my GF all the time. Just WTF does bright pink coordinate with besides more pink? what an ungodly abomination of color.
My goodness how we men suffer. Why if women had their way, we would have pink stuff inflicted on us. This is very serious. Thank God that there are men who are willing to stand up to this continuing threat.
"now woman can buy a cable that they have no idea what to do with in their favorite color!"
Gee, how offensive of you. My son once said that we live in a 19th century house, with 20th century wiring, and 21st century high-speed internet. Yes, the whole house is wired with cat-5, by me, Mom, and before that, I up-graded the 19th century wiring to 20th century. Circuits, circuits, circuits! All by me, Mom. As well as the foundation, the roof, the drywall . . .
I know exactly what to do with cat-5, and I don't think I will use pink, thankyew very much, because I suspect it of being less durable and serviceable than grey.
And, y'know, when I call tech support, I always end up talking to a dick like this.
I wonder what they can come up with for the colon cancer awareness program...
How about something a giant 20-foot long and 8-foot high inflatable pink Ethernet cable like this:
http://www.preventcancer.org/colorectal/