Today’s post will continue my breast cancer awareness series honoring breast cancer awareness month, Look for links to the other posts in the series at the bottom of this post.

October typically makes us think of fall and the dark autumn colors of gold, burgundy, and brown, but another color is everywhere this month! My favorite color, pink is abundant this month too! We see pink everywhere – pink products (like the pink M&Ms), people wearing pink, and even people wearing pink ribbon lapel pins. They even gave away a pink car on The View last week!

Last night, I was chatting with some friends, and we were wondering why the breast cancer awareness ribbon is pink. We were curious as to if there was some symbolism or significance in the choice of color, other than it just being a girly or feminine color. So ya know me and my inquiring mind, I had to find out.

Pink October started in 1988 in California where a group of people organized a breast awareness campaign for women and their families. Since then, Pink October has spread worldwide. The looped pink ribbon has become an internationally recognized symbol honoring breast cancer survivors and promoting awareness.

In answer to my curious question, I found the following answer as to why pink is the awareness color for breast cancer.

Amy Langer, Executive Director of the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations in the USA, told The New York Times Magazine in 1996 that, unlike other health threats to women, breast cancer is "loaded": "It's about body image, it's about nurturing - it's certainly about femininity."

"Pink is the quintessential female color," says Margaret Welch, Director of the Color Association of the United States. "The profile on pink is playful, life-affirming. We have studies as to its calming effect, its quieting effect, its lessening of stress. (Pastel pink) is a shade known to be health-giving; that's why we have expressions like "in the pink'. You can't say a bad thing about it."

Pink is everything cancer notably is not.

Source: Color It Pink

Coley's Breast Cancer Series:
Part 1
Part 2