The story behind the Pink Ribbon!
It has left its mark and has now become a trademark. Without any words, without any actions, with just a glance we all understand what it has to say. The life of thousands of women behind a ribbon, a pink ribbon. We all know what it means but few know its true story.
It all began many years ago, in 1979 when Penne Laingen’s husband, Bruce was taken hostage in Iran. Penne Laingen, inspired by a song, tied yellow ribbons on a tree in her garden, which symbolised her desire for her husband to return home. The yellow ribbon became a mean of communication and had flooded the USA in solidarity.
The yellow ribbon was painted red in 1991 but this time is was a symbol for AIDS awareness. Actor Jeremy Irons was the first to wear it publicly at the Tony Awards. The red ribbon was inspired by a group of activists called Visual AIDS Artists Caucus, who had observed the number of yellow ribbons that reappeared for Americans fighting in the Gulf. The ribbon acquires a different message in each colour.
During the same year, the Race for the Cure took place in New York where the Susan G. Komem Foundation gave out pink ribbons to all participants. This was the first step in connecting the pink ribbon to breast cancer.
The story of the ribbon however does not end here since in 1992, the editor-in-chief of Self magazine, Alexandra Penney, impressed by the mania created by the ribbons, decided to circulate a pink ribbon with an anniversary issue to create an awareness movement for breast cancer. With this initiative, the pink ribbon became the “lead” in breast cancer. At the same time, the magazine discovered 68-year-old Charlotte Haley, a granddaughter, sister and mother of women who had battled with breast cancer. Charlotte was then making and distributing peach-coloured ribbons.
When the magazine contacted 68-year-old Charlotte Haley for a collaboration, she refused to work with them as she considered their actions commercial. Alexandra Penney however, was determined to implement her own idea and after consulting the magazine’s lawyers, the solution that made history was found. The ribbon turned pink. The pink ribbon we proudly wear, which supports, raises awareness and fights for all women around the world.
The pink ribbon gained even more power of course when the vice president of Estee Lauder company, Evelyn Lauder who had breast cancer helped in her own financial way to make the ribbon even more famous. She placed the pink ribbon in beauty shops all over America and in a very short time, the whole country got to know the pink ribbon.
And so here we are today, in 2020, with a symbol we all know, respect, appreciate and fight for. It is not just a pink ribbon but also a ribbon that carries countless of painful stories of women all over the world but fights with optimism and hope for a better tomorrow.
October, the month of breast cancer awareness and the message is that valid prevention can save women’s lives, as treatment is immediate and less painful for women themselves and their families.
