Selfie Awareness

I think it’s safe to assume that cancer exists. Mary 1st of England (better known as Bloody Mary), didn’t have the luxury of knowing. The phantom pregnancy that consumed her was thought of as just that, until the very end. She probably could have done with some cancer awareness herself, for all the good it would have done her.

Of course modern campaigns aren't really about getting the knowledge out that the disease exists. They’re about helping people to talk about it and in doing so finding out about diagnosis, treatment, and symptoms. A person who shaves their head for a cancer charity is in some small way mirroring the all-too noticeable sacrifice someone battling with cancer has to make every day.

And now we come to no-make up selfies. The most useless thing to happen to cancer awareness since weekly horoscopes . First and foremost, it’s a campaign aimed exclusively at women, despite the fact that the disease also affects men.  

While it’s true that male sufferers of breast cancer are certainly in the minority, this makes it even more important to make men aware that they can actually get it. Pink ribbons and female-focused campaigns further perpetuate the myth that it’s a women's only disease. Meanwhile, about 400 men in the UK will be diagnosed this year.  Hell, I only know men can get it because of Fight-Club.

But I’m afraid that my mad irk with something seemingly so sincere goes further. It’s an irk similar to another: with those who compulsively pray.

Prayer is something you resort to when all your worldly powers to change things have been exhausted. When seeing someone clinging to a cliff-edge for dear life, your first instinct should not be to clap those clammy palms together and have a word with the good Lord. No, first you’d try to help the poor bugger up.

Sure, take your makeup off. Try and get a nice camera angle and some good lighting. Prepare to be inundated with friends telling you how gorgeous you look. And then rush to put the makeup back on, since you are going out later and need to be fabulous.

While you’re at it, try and figure out how much you spend on make-up every month. Got it? Take that figure, and instead of spending it, give it to a cancer charity. Do the race for life (IN BLACK). Volunteer to help those in need.

Just don’t pretend that perpetuating your own narcissism has ANYTHING to do with cancer awareness. You're posting on Facebook, so you hardly need an excuse for it anyway.


(EDIT): Some people are actually donating money with their selfies. Kudos to those who have. I'd still ask why the selfie part even needs to be there... but if it's to a good cause, what the hey.