Apropos of Bras

Reading Melissa's post reminded me of an experience I had the other day. A few weeks ago, during a visit to my parents in Houston, my ever-tactful mom informed me that I needed a new bra (I'll spare you her exact words, except to say that they made me feel simultaneously 13 and 60 years old). Anyway, like Melissa, I was shocked at how much the bras cost ($42 apiece for two "ultimate T-shirt bras," in pink and black, at Soma). Still, I was psyched to have my first new bras in, oh, 5 years, and I still am. Except! When I took out the pink bra, a week or so after buying it... THIS is what I saw:



You probably can't tell from the shitty iPhone photo, but that's a little pink metal ribbon, indicating my support for the breast cancer research of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, whose work (which focuses on addressing breast cancer after diagnosis instead of researching its causes) I most decidedly do not support. (And don't even get me started on the infantilization and crass consumerism that drives the breast cancer industry--practices Think Before You Pink has dubbed "pinkwashing"). Even more annoyingly, Soma's web site does not make it clear that buying their "pink support" bra means supporting The Cause. Curse you, Cancer-Industrial Complex, you've foiled me again!