Pinkwashing Turns on Itself with Breast Cancer Awareness Gun

Smith & Wesson Breast Cancer Awareness PistolOctober was Breast Cancer Awareness month, and the group Breast Cancer Action seized on the opportunity to promote its Think Before you Pink campaign to raise awareness of how companies are increasingly exploiting breast cancer as a marketing device to sell products -- some of which are actually harmful to women's health. Pink ribbon campaigns are offering up some bizarre, albeit benign products like a breast cancer awareness toaster and a breast cancer awareness floating Beer Pong table. But the most bizarre item yet to have a pink ribbon slapped on it must be Smith & Wesson's Pink Breast Cancer Awareness 9 mm Pistol, promoted by a woman named Julie Goloski, Smith and Wesson's Consumer Program Manager and a sharpshooter herself. Goloski is promoting S&W's breast cancer awareness pistol on her Facebook page, saying "October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness M&P’s are shipping to dealers. I am thrilled to have my name associated with such a worthy cause and one of my favorite firearms." According to a 2008 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, firearms are the second most common cause of violent deaths of women, accounting for 29.2% of all violent deaths among females in the U.S. in 2008.


This is also the same company that makes the best tool available for women to defend themselves against attack. Maybe it makes a lot of sense that the same company that prevents the rape of countless women would also be concerned with protecting those same women from breast cancer.
Your analogy is flawed as well. Guns do not cause breast cancer,unlike the relationship between cigarettes and lung cancer.

...but guns are notoriously associated with wounding and death, both purposefully and accidentally.

Some products are ridiculous for "pinking" and some are completely inappropriate. This is one.

Anne Landman

You don't have the wherewithal to back your argument nor do you seem interested in the facts. Walk away with what little intellectual dignity you have left.

Most women who learn to shoot do so so they can shoot men. Women use the "gun" for defense against those who use knives, guns, bats, rope, and many other devises to harm women. Look at the big picture, people harm people guns don't do anything people don't make them do. They are simply a tool to be used for good and sometimes evil.

The product doesnt cause anything until someone picks it up and uses it. Blame the criminals not the tool they use. This is just as bad as MADD blaming the alcohol for drunk driving accidents instead of the people who cannot control themselves.

Oh by the way, defensive use of a gun probably saves more women's lives each year than every breast cancer treatment out there. Course that would be inconvenient to mention now wouldnt it?

Your analogy to cigarette makers is a poor one because cigarettes do not have any healthy uses, firearms do. Namely self defense, which is the most common use for a firearm.

... until they're used, either.

Alcohol-related emergency room visits are a serious problem [ worldwide]

Products like guns, cigarettes and alcohol cannot be completely absolved of all blame. The world does not benefit from their additional promotion through pinking, either.

Anne Landman

Woman shoots violent, home invading ex boyfriend.

I realize that the plural of anecdote is not data, but these sorts of stories crop up all the time.

You're right a single or handful of incidents doesn't make a case. On the other hand many incidents do make a case. Take a look at the Civilian Gun Self-Defense blog:

This site contains countless stories about people, many of whom are women, defending themselves with firearms. Instead of saying Smith and Wesson make an implement that causes many deaths you should be saying Smith and Wesson make an implement that saves many lives.

Take a look at this product, a pink knife.***-IMPULSE/Detail

Then read this sad news story,0,517517.story

In short, man attacks and kills ex girlfriend with knife, police use gun to stop the attack. Tell me again what tools are bad?