The No Make-Up Selfie Raises Awareness for.....Your Face.

Recently women have begun posting photos of their faces without make up and claiming they are doing it to "raise breast cancer awareness". Let me explain to you why that is just an all around ridiculous idea.  Women with breast cancer many times lose touch with their femininity - they feel that they are no longer women because one of the major body parts that identifies them AS women is more often than not literally removed from their person. They go through chemotherapy, extremely invasive surgery and wither away. But the best the creator of this meme/trend could come up with was to have perfectly healthy women post pictures of themselves without make-up so they could be seen at their "ugliest"?

When I first saw a no make-up post I thought it was a joke. I tried to justify it. Maybe she's joking and just doesn't know how to explain why this is funny. Maybe she is comparing herself without make-up to a cancer victim - OHMYGOD THAT'S WHAT YOU ALL ARE DOING WHEN YOU DO THIS. Even if the act is conscious or not, even if you are just doing it because you got tagged by someone else, that is the heart of this whole thing. Is that whoever did it first thought that by not wearing make-up, they were somehow comparable to a breast cancer victim. And if you are saying that, are you also saying that cancer patients are ugly?

I mean, I don't understand. And crazy trends like this don't raise awareness for anything. At this point in time it is important that women are getting checked for Breast Cancer because everyone in the world knows it is a thing that could happen to them. But not wearing make-up isn't going to magically remind anyone to go in for a mammogram. Obviously. What is going to remind women to get a mammogram is going in yourself and getting checked. If you are anxious to share how eager you are to make sure everyone gets checked then post those informational graphics about how to self-check at home. 

And you ALL are missing the point! You know how I know? Because you're doing it because you were tagged, chances are if you knew that the whole thing began after the Oscars with celebrities supporting Kim Novak, a breast cancer survivor who was criticized at the Academy Awards for her very obvious plastic surgery, you might not be so eager to join in. 

And then, if any of you knew that the whole thing was capitalized on and is actually a fundraising campaign over in the UK, and donated money to a breast cancer research campaign, you might be ACTUALLY making a damn difference. Thinly veiled vanity is not philanthropy. There is nothing wrong with taking a selfie. But if you have to give it a reason like "breast cancer awareness" then there could possibly be a problem.

Women of the world, go get yourselves checked. Breast Cancer can literally hit anyone and everyone. And if you are lucky enough to be found cancer free, remember to help out your sisters on Earth and donate some money to a company that can make a difference. You are not brave for not wearing make-up. You are brave for helping someone who can never help you back.