Pink ribbon
The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Pink ribbons, and the color pink in general, identify the wearer or promoter with the breast cancer brand and express moral support for women with breast cancer. Pink ribbons are most commonly seen during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The ribbon has been the symbol of awareness and support since 1979 when Penney Laingen, wife of one of the men held prisoners during the Iran hostage crisis, decided to use a yellow ribbon to show support for her husband and the other hostages. Its history goes back much further: it is mentioned in five-hundred-year-old poems, in military marches and in folk songs, even in films. But Penney Laingen used it for first time publicly as a silent voice of support.
A decade later, the activist art group Visual AIDS turned the ribbon bright red, looped it, spruced it up and sent it onto the national stage during the Tony Awards, pinned to the chest of actor Jeremy Irons. Again, a symbol of awareness and support.
Overnight, every charity organisation had to have one. The ubiquity of the symbol was such that even the New York Times declared 1992 "The Year of the Ribbon". http://pinkribbon.org/about/history/
The color pink is considered feminine in modern Western countries. It evokes traditional feminine gender roles, caring for other people, being beautiful, being good, and being cooperative.
The pink ribbon represents fear of breast cancer, hope for the future, and the charitable goodness of people and businesses who publicly support the breast cancer movement. It is intended to evoke solidarity with women who currently have breast cancer.
Breast cancer organizations use the pink ribbon to associate themselves with breast cancer, to promote breast cancer awareness, and to support fundraising. Some breast cancer-related organizations, such as Pink Ribbon International, use the pink ribbon as their primary symbol. Susan G. Komen for the Cure uses a stylized "running ribbon" as their logo.
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