"I'm Not Buying It" by Justice Hehir of Rutgers University. Justice was nominated for best poet at Cupsi! Follow this poet's team on Facebook: / ruslamteam
"when women get sick we have to do it in a pretty way" i need to meet Justice and hug her, she doesn't know that her poem isn't just speaking about breast cancer but about every illness we go through.
As someone who watched my mother feel each of these raw emotions during her bout with breast cancer, I applaud you for addressing the reality of the way that society has turned this "pink". These aren't pink emotions, these are women feeling every excruciating pain and emotion as any other person in the world. Thank you for being so brutally honest and genuine.
Whoa! This is amazing - these videos need more views and comments! - My mum lost a breast to cancer last year - and no - pink was not a colour to describe it at all.
And red isn't the color I would use to describe my godfather's descent into perpetual illness when he contracted HIV. There is only one color that is generally agreed upon as properly representing deathly illness, and that's black. That's already taken by cancer (the condition as whole). Apart from that, all colors are more or less arbitrary: red, pink, purple, orange... it makes no difference. I really have a hard time taking this video seriously
What a load of pretentious bullshit! Firstly if you have cancer i doubt you could give a toss what colour is used to draw awareness of it, secondly this is over acted to within an inch of its life, you are not bigger than cancer, cancer does not care about your feminist inspired solipsistic concerns over a colour.
Robert Smith You really don't understand, its not about the color its about the marketing hence the 'I'm not buying it'. Think of it this way cancer research makes about 6.5 million per victim,now do you really think when they are bring in money like that they are going to rush in to finding a cure, unfortunately money runs this world.
I heard this slam for the first time in 2014 and it's my first memory of being moved by poetry slam; seven years later I still revisit it and use it as the primary example of what poetry slam can do as a genre. So completely well-written; "this experience was supposed to be pink", "I showed them things which takes time to earn otherwise" and of course "when women get sick, we have to do it in a pretty way". I wish JH could know how much her piece has moved me as a woman and now working as a doctor. Much love.
I can't stop watching this and thinking about since a few hours ago in the shower, my fingers froze on a lump in my breast. Guess who will be making a gyno appointment as soon as possible.
People are talking about it, just not in the way you would like, the reason for this is very few people outside of this women's small pretentious world of pseudo intellectualism and feminist hysteria, actually agree with anything she says. This is what happens when a self entitled privileged westerner gets lost in their own importance, and is educated beyond their intelligence.
saying someone is "educated beyond their intelligence" is the most horrendous thing I have ever heard. No one is limited to learn. Being educated is how our intelligence grows, and saying someone is educated beyond their intelligence doesn't make much sense to me because intelligence has no limit. We continue to grow through education. Through your comment you seem to be the only self entitled person lost in their own self importance.
I heard this poem around two months back and agreed with it. But I heard it now again, as someone who just learnt a couple of days ago that my mother has a tumor that may or may not be cancer, this poem broke me to pieces.
I feel like some of the comments are ignoring the point of the poem. Yes, it's good that breast cancer marketing raises money, and yes, it's been effective at garnering support. I'm sure the poet realizes this. But what she's trying to get us to realize is that, despite the effectiveness of the marketing, it's given the disease a very misleading image, and it's understandable why someone would want to call attention to that. In the same way people had no problem with calling godaddy out on misleading by advertising as a porn site, people shouldn't have a problem calling breast cancer out on basically advertising like a fashion statement.
yeah but she's making it seem like breast cancer awareness programs are negative and not even covering the vast amount of good that they do. It's focusing on the tree and not the forest.
ratguy101 It's a poem though, not a debate. If the tree is bothering you, it's perfectly fine to talk about the tree without giving equal weight to the forest.
JamMastaJeremy There's a difference between not giving equal wait to the forest and completely ignore in order to talk about the tree. It's cherry picking in the most extreme way possible.
ratguy101 There's nothing wrong with ignoring it either. Whether I say "that tree is rotten," or "that tree is rotten but the rest of the forest is gorgeous," my point is still that something is wrong in my opinion. Even when the good vastly outweighs the bad, if your point is ultimately that something is wrong, then it's fine to go ahead and not point out the good, especially when the good is already obvious
and while she was so busy being angry that she didn't feel any support or what have you about what she saw as a marketing scheme, every person out there wearing one of those pink (yes pink, all colors are equal, stop using them as some form of measurement for worth...that makes you the problem) was on her side...supporting her...fighting with her. this poem is a slap in the face to anyone out there who desperately tries to make a difference and gets a pink ribbon in return and then wears it to tell others the fight is still going.
This poem didn't hit as hard until I listened to it around September. I had known about the lump in my breast for ages but never got concerned until I started to experience pain and could no longer stand to wear a normal bra. I told my mom and my friends, my anxiety disorder creeping up and telling me that it was cancer while everyone assured me that it was probably just a cyst. November, I went to have an ultrasound done with my mother. The doctor told me that it was, in fact, a tumor and then he asked me if I wanted a biopsy done that day or some other time. I had it done and two days later, I got the results. It wasn't cancer, I was okay. The anxiety and stress was still there and a little over a month ago, I went through surgery to have it removed and double checked. I mean, I'm only 17, I couldn't have breast cancer, pull it together! I got the results three weeks later, confirmation that I wasn't sick, just as everyone had assured me, despite the anxiety, the pain, and the nights of staying up late despite my early wake up call, losing sleep that I couldn't afford to lose.
I remember all the commercials for breast cancer awareness that showed men at a swimming pool looking at woman's breast while the narration was something along the lines of 'You don't want this to go away, do you?" and so all the men started panicking and donating because they wanted to save the boobs. like the only thing they were worried about was men not having boobs to look at the touch to objectify. they weren't worried about us dying. like the only way to get the world's attention what's to say they were going to take something away from them. not a life. tits.
I have written a few research and persuasive essays on the Susan G Komen foundation and there is an incredible article, I believe it's titled "I've been Pinkwashed" or something along those lines, its incredible to research
Thank you for bringing this to light. I can't help but think the current trend of "no make up selfies for breast cancer awareness" gets grouped into this category and doesn't help much at all. Awareness is great, but I don't buy that either. Keep up the great work!
I remember the first time I heard this poem. It was May 29th, 2014 the day before I got my own lump removed from my left breast at the age of eighteen. For the prior two months I was speechless and scared and this poem gave me words to articulate my feelings and power to live the experience. Thank you again.
I don't know why people are having trouble grasping this poem, came off pretty clear to me. Lack of education on the issue? Different interpretation? Eh, that's TH-cam for you though....
I'm pretty sure I have contributed a very high number of views to this video's count over the past few years. This poem is SO GOOD. SO. GOODDD!! "When women get sick, we have to do it in a pretty way." aaaggh
People, she is upset. She had one of the most horrifying moments of anyone's life happen to her. The only thing worse would be if the doctors told her she DID have cancer... You cannot tell me that you don't find ways to let out your emotions that may not be logical at the moment.
So raw and relatable: "when women get sick we have to do it in a pretty way" and "they bleach the red of our pain". Clearly a view from the inside. Very well done.
I hate how most breast awareness programs are literally "save boobies, donate breast cancer hospitals." Like, how about no. How about, I get what ur doing is nice, I get how it's helping, but no. How about I will donate, but because WOMEN (and men) DIE FROM BREAST CANCER. And frankly I care more about a persons life then their t*ts.
Everyone talking shit about this poem is either truly ignorant or is just hearing what they want to hear: a girl bitching about a problem that "doesn't even exist". Well the problem is very real, and it's not that the color representing breast cancer is pink. It's that people take that and use it to profit off of breast cancer (which men can get too, and just because she doesn't mention that doesn't mean she doesn't care about men getting it. Saying it just wouldn't have helped to get her point across), because most of the revenue brought in to companies from breast cancer merchandise doesn't actually go towards research, but back into their own bank accounts, and it's sickening. A disease that affects and has killed millions of people around the world has become a marketing tool, basically. THAT'S what the poem is about, so please understand that before posting an uneducated comment.
thank you i was 15 when this happened to me, even tho i can hardly see the screen from my own tears ,thank you i haven't herd words like this in a long time and the pink is also black and going threw this isn't easy
This is my second favorite one. Awesome! I really want to share it with some of my friends. Could you put the words in the about section, as you did to the Rape Poem? Cause, you know, sometimes it's a bit difficult to get when english is not our first language. Keep posting! xx
Wow, looking at the comments, seems most don't "get" the poem at all....it was not a criticism of breast cancer research, the color pink, etc.......it was the honest emotions of a young woman finding a breast lump......I can relate, as I have a lump, too, so far, benign, but, as another commenter posted, I can relate having been afflicted with several other major health issues/injuries that cause that same flood of emotions and panic..........Well done, Justine
Radioactive Sarcasm I understand that.. and as a performer I like people clapping and snapping.. coz it gives me confidence to end the poem with even more attitude than I began with.. but as a listener it’s a little obnoxious because you can’t hear everything
Well spoken and very passionate, and I get that her 'pink' represents the washed-down or beautified version of how she feels women are meant to deal with illness. I find it a tad hard to swallow, however, since all the things she's 'not buying' are meant to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research.
I see many pictures of any cancer awareness or things like this on social media, saying "like if you support this movement or want to help out," etc. Which I don't get, because liking a picture isn't doing anything and it really annoys me. If you want to help, get off Instagram and donate to a charity, don't just like a picture. {Kind of irrelevant to the poem, but I needed this out there}
And the same argument is made for everything else (starvation, homelessness, murder, rape etc.) and you're right just liking something isn't doing anything, it is actually counter productive. But she is referring to people who actually donate and basically hating on them which is disgusting.
This is an amazing poem! Pink is used cos like its the colour for hope. They're just trying to promote hope for people going through it i guess. Seriously love this though
Found a lump six months ago. They said it was probably nothing and they’d check back in a few months. I’m only sixteen. Less than a month ago I sat in a waiting room filled with fully grown women and all I could feel was sympathetic looks when the doctor called me in. This month I will be undergoing surgery to have the lump on my chest removed. They still don’t know what it is. I’m only sixteen. Nothing about this feels pink.
Its pink because women get breast cancer...but so do men. The color marginalizes people. And they have taken pink and the glorified idea of breast and have made it into a profitable industry. but the truth is with all the walks and pink ribbons it has been cured and this idea of PINK and all it represents doesn't make women or men or the family members feel any better. So try getting educated and try listening to what she is saying and maybe then you would understand her.
Your first statement is one that poet doesn't even understand and a lot of her poem would be defeated by it. But breast cancer for profit is a win win not a win for the company a finger to those with breast cancer. The funds are for a cure not to make people feel better about having gone through or having a loved one gone through it. No cancer has been cured yet (at least not out of trials), it's treatable but there is still no cure, it's not something that scientist walk into the lab and are like oh it's just this it's not that simple, there may not even be a cure.
it's a way for people to applaud and show appreciation/agreement with what the speaker is saying, while not having the noise of traditional applause to drown out following words which may be lost, and/or breaking the concentration of the speaker... there are generally two types of looking at it, people either think: 1. it's a part of poetry/spoken word etc. and people get moved but still respect the artist to not mess up their flow/performance 2. that's just something hipster douche bags do to seem cool while holding their glasses of triple distilled Prosecco either way it's refreshing to see a comment that isn't bashing something...I'm quietly snapping my fingers for you =)
Breast cancer awareness isn't about men liking the female body or the "sexism" of the colour pink, breast cancer awareness is about the thousands of women who suffer and die from it, leaving families and friends behind. So don't start with the whole "awareness is all about money and profit"...awareness is about finding a cure for a disease that slowly sucks the life out of people until they can't take it anymore. We will fight for a cure.
pink was considered a manly color, in one culture that I can't seem to recall at the moment.... saying that the experience wasn't pink is as arbitrary as saying that the experience wasn't purple, and I don't really see what she's trying to say. Women aren't expected to get sick "prettily" or whatever, they're expected to lose hair and vomit their guts (if they survive that long). cancer is undignified by nature, do not look for it to be otherwise. The moral of the story: don't "not buy" pink ribbon stuff because it's..... pink (I can't get over how stupid that sounds). instead, "don't buy it" because that entire organization has shown little initiative to actually find a cure, rather, they are likely seeking profit.
"The moral of the story: don't "not buy" pink ribbon stuff because it's..... pink (I can't get over how stupid that sounds). instead, "don't buy it" because that entire organization has shown little initiative to actually find a cure, rather, they are likely seeking profit." yes thank you. Companies sell "pink" products that help find and cure, but if they keep most of it, it does little. It should be at least 50% of the profits go, but companies are greedy and want to keep some.
One of the biggest obstacles in finding a cure for cancer actually lies in the companies supposedly finding the cure. It's like that way for a lot of things, including sustainable energy. It's kind of sick, but it's the truth of the situation.
This is just how poetry slams/spoken word is done. It's like at a live performance. You clap along to the music at points and shout "Yesss! Or woooo!" when singers hit high notes. Poetry is admired with snaps.
I love the poem and it has a beautiful message, but I don't think that products profiting for breast-cancer were made pink because we have to be pretty no matter what. I think that although she made a great statement of how we as women shouldn't have to follow these certain "standards" by some, she searched a little too hard to find another way to blame society just based on a color choice for the representation of something.
You can't argue though that breast cancer isn't very, very rare in men. It's mostly associated with women. She isn't excluding men here. She's talking about herself.
I don't want to take away from her experience, but she doesn't have a fucking clue. She has no idea what it's like to watch someone you love disintegrate in front of you. She has no idea what it's like to walk away from someone starting their first chemo and leave them there, all alone, in that chair, not having any clue what was going to happen to them. And you know what, after the first one, it doesn't get one fucking bit easier. "when women get sick, we have to do it in a pretty way" don't you dare make this about something it's not. The only fucking pretty part about breast cancer is the pink. It is a reminder that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that there is one special thing bonding survivors, families and supporters together. So don't disrespect the pink ribbon. It is so much more than the colour.
People pick the stupidest things to get mad about. Of all the pain and suffering and worry and heartache cancer brings into your life, you're mad about the color used to get people's attention and raise awareness for the issue? Girl, please. 😒 Pink was never meant to be used to "describe" this disease. Certain colors are assigned with certain meanings because we are visual creatures and so, we are more likely to pay attention to bright colors and other things that are stimulating to our brains.
Um. Wow. We as a society assign colors to everything. There are ribbons in nearly every color to show support for whatever cause. To say that pink is not an appropriate color for breast cancer is ridiculous to me. The color signifies femininity, no matter what people say about gender roles, I think we can all agree on that. Is it a horrible disease? God yes. But of the many horrible things it does, it takes what what many women think makes them feminine. It takes your hair and your breasts and in most cases your ability to have children. So excuse the hell out of Susan G. for trying to give some of that softness back in any way she can. Pink is mostly a positive color and I think some positivity should be associated with breast cancer. And as for the merchandise, it is raising awareness, raising funds, and raising self esteem so that women aren't ashamed to be sick. They can carry their bags and cups and wear their shirts without having be self conscious. So to me, this poem was spitting all the good the color pink has done for breast cancer.
I don't think she understand, the pink ribbon is suppose to symbolize women, who get breast cancer far more often then men do, it was never suppose to prepare you for breast cancer it was merely for awareness that it exists and used in an effort to raise money for a cure to breast cancer. She is labeling something so good as if it was a terrible thing. Yes cancer of any ind is terrifying, I mean who doesn't know that? Are you seriously arguing that you don't want to show a doctor your breast for your health because you feel violated, how is that at all equivalent to the magnitude of the problem? The doctor is trying to help you, the doctor doesn't care about looking at your breasts for pleasure reasons, it's not the same thing. She puts a very ugly face on something that's trying to help her. How sad.
I don't think you need to take it so literally. It's a piece of poetry, an expression of feeling, a piece of art. Her words transcend their literal meaning. My interpretation was that she went through an experience, an incredibly unpleasant one, and it didn't feel pink and warm to her, it felt much more sinister. I don't think that she is saying that this is a bad campaign or that the pink ribbon should be replaced with something more befitting, such as skull and crossbones. All she is saying is that she didn't feel 'pink'. This is her experience, not yours. I know nothing about this woman, but she certainly seems capable of understanding the pink ribbon campaign for what it is. If in fact you are just being a troll, then well done. It was well executed, you got me to bite.
She's not labeling the good as bad. She's saying that her feeling wasn't represented by that campaign. Although that campaign does have an underlying "good" cause, they use a lot of it for profit. Think about it, how many people do you think actually send in those yogurt tops that donate 10 cents to breast cancer? Not many. Then, how many people do you think buy those yogurts because they donate to the cause? A way larger amount. Companies "pink out" things solely for profit, that is something she's drawing attention to.
I thought this was a wonderful poetic version of the flood of emotions and thoughts that go through the mind of a woman suddenly faced with a breast lump....there is no right or wrong ......
![HIWWHEE | OHM [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OJJLtTLqLag/mqdefault.jpg)
"When women get sick, we have to do it in a pretty way". jwoejfgirohj ahhhh...!!!
"when women get sick we have to do it in a pretty way"
i need to meet Justice and hug her, she doesn't know that her poem isn't just speaking about breast cancer but about every illness we go through.
What? Lol
it is as lethal as it is profitable fucking got me
As someone who watched my mother feel each of these raw emotions during her bout with breast cancer, I applaud you for addressing the reality of the way that society has turned this "pink". These aren't pink emotions, these are women feeling every excruciating pain and emotion as any other person in the world. Thank you for being so brutally honest and genuine.
Whoa! This is amazing - these videos need more views and comments! - My mum lost a breast to cancer last year - and no - pink was not a colour to describe it at all.
And red isn't the color I would use to describe my godfather's descent into perpetual illness when he contracted HIV. There is only one color that is generally agreed upon as properly representing deathly illness, and that's black. That's already taken by cancer (the condition as whole). Apart from that, all colors are more or less arbitrary: red, pink, purple, orange... it makes no difference. I really have a hard time taking this video seriously
What a load of pretentious bullshit! Firstly if you have cancer i doubt you could give a toss what colour is used to draw awareness of it, secondly this is over acted to within an inch of its life, you are not bigger than cancer, cancer does not care about your feminist inspired solipsistic concerns over a colour.
Robert Smith u didn't get the point... she was not prepared...
Robert Smith "Cancer is as lethal as it is profitable" thats the point
Robert Smith You really don't understand, its not about the color its about the marketing hence the 'I'm not buying it'. Think of it this way cancer research makes about 6.5 million per victim,now do you really think when they are bring in money like that they are going to rush in to finding a cure, unfortunately money runs this world.
I heard this slam for the first time in 2014 and it's my first memory of being moved by poetry slam; seven years later I still revisit it and use it as the primary example of what poetry slam can do as a genre. So completely well-written; "this experience was supposed to be pink", "I showed them things which takes time to earn otherwise" and of course "when women get sick, we have to do it in a pretty way". I wish JH could know how much her piece has moved me as a woman and now working as a doctor. Much love.
I can't stop watching this and thinking about since a few hours ago in the shower, my fingers froze on a lump in my breast. Guess who will be making a gyno appointment as soon as possible.
Best of luck.
+ColorfulConfessions Hope you're o.k.
hope youre okay!!
ColorfulConfessions are you okay?
Was everything okay?
I remember watching this vid in high school and I just saw your comment. Are you doing okay?
Got the chills all over.
atomsmakemeup Let... Let me warm you up with my human heat. I don't care which gender you are.
I didn't feel pink.
nothing was pink
Holy jesus. I am just looking at all your videos now and wow. Why is no one talking about this?
IKR?? all of these are absolutely amazing and speak such truth.
Thank you so much for the support!
Lindsey Michelle Williams no thank you! and also all the others:)
People are talking about it, just not in the way you would like, the reason for this is very few people outside of this women's small pretentious world of pseudo intellectualism and feminist hysteria, actually agree with anything she says. This is what happens when a self entitled privileged westerner gets lost in their own importance, and is educated beyond their intelligence.
saying someone is "educated beyond their intelligence" is the most horrendous thing I have ever heard. No one is limited to learn. Being educated is how our intelligence grows, and saying someone is educated beyond their intelligence doesn't make much sense to me because intelligence has no limit. We continue to grow through education. Through your comment you seem to be the only self entitled person lost in their own self importance.
I heard this poem around two months back and agreed with it. But I heard it now again, as someone who just learnt a couple of days ago that my mother has a tumor that may or may not be cancer, this poem broke me to pieces.
I feel like some of the comments are ignoring the point of the poem. Yes, it's good that breast cancer marketing raises money, and yes, it's been effective at garnering support. I'm sure the poet realizes this. But what she's trying to get us to realize is that, despite the effectiveness of the marketing, it's given the disease a very misleading image, and it's understandable why someone would want to call attention to that. In the same way people had no problem with calling godaddy out on misleading by advertising as a porn site, people shouldn't have a problem calling breast cancer out on basically advertising like a fashion statement.
yeah but she's making it seem like breast cancer awareness programs are negative and not even covering the vast amount of good that they do. It's focusing on the tree and not the forest.
ratguy101 It's a poem though, not a debate. If the tree is bothering you, it's perfectly fine to talk about the tree without giving equal weight to the forest.
JamMastaJeremy There's a difference between not giving equal wait to the forest and completely ignore in order to talk about the tree. It's cherry picking in the most extreme way possible.
ratguy101 There's nothing wrong with ignoring it either. Whether I say "that tree is rotten," or "that tree is rotten but the rest of the forest is gorgeous," my point is still that something is wrong in my opinion. Even when the good vastly outweighs the bad, if your point is ultimately that something is wrong, then it's fine to go ahead and not point out the good, especially when the good is already obvious
and while she was so busy being angry that she didn't feel any support or what have you about what she saw as a marketing scheme, every person out there wearing one of those pink (yes pink, all colors are equal, stop using them as some form of measurement for worth...that makes you the problem) was on her side...supporting her...fighting with her. this poem is a slap in the face to anyone out there who desperately tries to make a difference and gets a pink ribbon in return and then wears it to tell others the fight is still going.
This poem didn't hit as hard until I listened to it around September. I had known about the lump in my breast for ages but never got concerned until I started to experience pain and could no longer stand to wear a normal bra. I told my mom and my friends, my anxiety disorder creeping up and telling me that it was cancer while everyone assured me that it was probably just a cyst. November, I went to have an ultrasound done with my mother. The doctor told me that it was, in fact, a tumor and then he asked me if I wanted a biopsy done that day or some other time. I had it done and two days later, I got the results. It wasn't cancer, I was okay. The anxiety and stress was still there and a little over a month ago, I went through surgery to have it removed and double checked. I mean, I'm only 17, I couldn't have breast cancer, pull it together! I got the results three weeks later, confirmation that I wasn't sick, just as everyone had assured me, despite the anxiety, the pain, and the nights of staying up late despite my early wake up call, losing sleep that I couldn't afford to lose.
I remember all the commercials for breast cancer awareness that showed men at a swimming pool looking at woman's breast while the narration was something along the lines of 'You don't want this to go away, do you?" and so all the men started panicking and donating because they wanted to save the boobs. like the only thing they were worried about was men not having boobs to look at the touch to objectify. they weren't worried about us dying. like the only way to get the world's attention what's to say they were going to take something away from them. not a life. tits.
Sex sells
Lol
Holy crap that hit me hard. That was fantastic.
This describes my experience perfectly. I was 17. And I was terrified.
I love this girl! so awesome! preach it!
It takes a lot of courage to speak about such controversial subjects. This poetry is profound and stunning.
I have written a few research and persuasive essays on the Susan G Komen foundation and there is an incredible article, I believe it's titled "I've been Pinkwashed" or something along those lines, its incredible to research
Makes me cry every time.
Thank you for bringing this to light. I can't help but think the current trend of "no make up selfies for breast cancer awareness" gets grouped into this category and doesn't help much at all. Awareness is great, but I don't buy that either. Keep up the great work!
***** it brought a lot of attention to the cause so even though not all of the people who participated, donated they at least got others to donate.
***** Awareness is for prevention as well
I remember the first time I heard this poem. It was May 29th, 2014 the day before I got my own lump removed from my left breast at the age of eighteen. For the prior two months I was speechless and scared and this poem gave me words to articulate my feelings and power to live the experience. Thank you again.
I don't know why people are having trouble grasping this poem, came off pretty clear to me. Lack of education on the issue? Different interpretation? Eh, that's TH-cam for you though....
I'm pretty sure I have contributed a very high number of views to this video's count over the past few years. This poem is SO GOOD. SO. GOODDD!! "When women get sick, we have to do it in a pretty way." aaaggh
People, she is upset. She had one of the most horrifying moments of anyone's life happen to her. The only thing worse would be if the doctors told her she DID have cancer... You cannot tell me that you don't find ways to let out your emotions that may not be logical at the moment.
So raw and relatable: "when women get sick we have to do it in a pretty way" and "they bleach the red of our pain". Clearly a view from the inside. Very well done.
"when women get sick, the world decides to bleach the red of our pain"
This is incredible.
Goosebumps.
this is so great.
This video needs more views
I hate how most breast awareness programs are literally "save boobies, donate breast cancer hospitals." Like, how about no. How about, I get what ur doing is nice, I get how it's helping, but no. How about I will donate, but because WOMEN (and men) DIE FROM BREAST CANCER. And frankly I care more about a persons life then their t*ts.
Everyone talking shit about this poem is either truly ignorant or is just hearing what they want to hear: a girl bitching about a problem that "doesn't even exist".
Well the problem is very real, and it's not that the color representing breast cancer is pink. It's that people take that and use it to profit off of breast cancer (which men can get too, and just because she doesn't mention that doesn't mean she doesn't care about men getting it. Saying it just wouldn't have helped to get her point across), because most of the revenue brought in to companies from breast cancer merchandise doesn't actually go towards research, but back into their own bank accounts, and it's sickening. A disease that affects and has killed millions of people around the world has become a marketing tool, basically. THAT'S what the poem is about, so please understand that before posting an uneducated comment.
+Kathryn Tremaine thanks for educating me :)
This is the best thing on the internet I swear!
"Im NOT buying it!" DAMN OH SH×T!
Amazing!!
Literally so good I had tears in my eyes
Your poems are AMAZING!!!
Preach!
I love this so much
Absolutley incredible
DAMN. YES.
God, I LOVE Justice's work! She's amazing.
This is absolutely amazing.
Amazing amazing amazing!!
I've watched this so many times, amazing
You give me goosebumps all over I can't even!
thank you i was 15 when this happened to me, even tho i can hardly see the screen from my own tears ,thank you i haven't herd words like this in a long time and the pink is also black and going threw this isn't easy
everything about this poem is done so well. I love it.
"They bleach my anger" this is just brilliant
This is amazing
These poems are truly amazing💕
I am fucking in love with this girl. This is such an amazing poem I had chills the whole time.
SLAAAAYYYYYY. FUCKING SLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY
Ohmymotherofgod. Preach Miss Preach!
SO GOOD, SOOOO GOOD!
So hard to pick favourite lines!
Also I thought she was a judge, because Justice. Irrelevant but.
Wow....... That was intense... Loved her anger it was powerful.
anger is weakness read a book
david solt yep it makes you do irrational things and things you would not otherwise support.
yessss!!! this is amazing!
Wow. Just wow.
Wow that was powerful. Really intense poem. Truly amazing.
This is my second favorite one. Awesome!
I really want to share it with some of my friends. Could you put the words in the about section, as you did to the Rape Poem? Cause, you know, sometimes it's a bit difficult to get when english is not our first language.
Keep posting! xx
I will forward your question to Justice!
Wow, looking at the comments, seems most don't "get" the poem at all....it was not a criticism of breast cancer research, the color pink, etc.......it was the honest emotions of a young woman finding a breast lump......I can relate, as I have a lump, too, so far, benign, but, as another commenter posted, I can relate having been afflicted with several other major health issues/injuries that cause that same flood of emotions and panic..........Well done, Justine
God can people be quieter, I know she's amazing but this is a performance and if you interrupt her that's disrespectful
This is just how slam poetry is, being loud and snapping loud is how you show you like it, and as a poet I love it
Radioactive Sarcasm I understand that.. and as a performer I like people clapping and snapping.. coz it gives me confidence to end the poem with even more attitude than I began with.. but as a listener it’s a little obnoxious because you can’t hear everything
0:45 seconds into the video like,
"What did pink every do to you?"
Well spoken and very passionate, and I get that her 'pink' represents the washed-down or beautified version of how she feels women are meant to deal with illness. I find it a tad hard to swallow, however, since all the things she's 'not buying' are meant to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research.
Completely unrelated but
I love her outfit
Like that skirt is so cute
I see many pictures of any cancer awareness or things like this on social media, saying "like if you support this movement or want to help out," etc. Which I don't get, because liking a picture isn't doing anything and it really annoys me. If you want to help, get off Instagram and donate to a charity, don't just like a picture. {Kind of irrelevant to the poem, but I needed this out there}
And the same argument is made for everything else (starvation, homelessness, murder, rape etc.) and you're right just liking something isn't doing anything, it is actually counter productive. But she is referring to people who actually donate and basically hating on them which is disgusting.
i totally understand, that's why i made a side note saying my original comment is irrelevant to the video/poem :)
all of the comments are missing the point of the video my goddddd
Why is everyone snapping?
Because that's what you do for spoken word and live poetry, you snap your fingers instead of clapping.
It means you like the poem
This is real.
This is an amazing poem! Pink is used cos like its the colour for hope. They're just trying to promote hope for people going through it i guess. Seriously love this though
Found a lump six months ago. They said it was probably nothing and they’d check back in a few months. I’m only sixteen. Less than a month ago I sat in a waiting room filled with fully grown women and all I could feel was sympathetic looks when the doctor called me in. This month I will be undergoing surgery to have the lump on my chest removed. They still don’t know what it is. I’m only sixteen. Nothing about this feels pink.
Can I be your friend? Like please? The rape poem and this one man. You're amazing.
Its pink because women get breast cancer...but so do men. The color marginalizes people. And they have taken pink and the glorified idea of breast and have made it into a profitable industry. but the truth is with all the walks and pink ribbons it has been cured and this idea of PINK and all it represents doesn't make women or men or the family members feel any better. So try getting educated and try listening to what she is saying and maybe then you would understand her.
Your first statement is one that poet doesn't even understand and a lot of her poem would be defeated by it. But breast cancer for profit is a win win not a win for the company a finger to those with breast cancer. The funds are for a cure not to make people feel better about having gone through or having a loved one gone through it. No cancer has been cured yet (at least not out of trials), it's treatable but there is still no cure, it's not something that scientist walk into the lab and are like oh it's just this it's not that simple, there may not even be a cure.
Companies profit from breast cancer especially during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Even Susan G.
I'm new to this. I just want to ask, why is everybody snapping their fingers?
it's a way for people to applaud and show appreciation/agreement with what the speaker is saying, while not having the noise of traditional applause to drown out following words which may be lost, and/or breaking the concentration of the speaker...
there are generally two types of looking at it, people either think:
1. it's a part of poetry/spoken word etc. and people get moved but still respect the artist to not mess up their flow/performance
2. that's just something hipster douche bags do to seem cool while holding their glasses of triple distilled Prosecco
either way it's refreshing to see a comment that isn't bashing something...I'm quietly snapping my fingers for you =)
HAHA. #2 made me laugh. :) Thanks for answering!
of tall ships, my last potato, fair wind blow not of the east,
my love needs me now,
Has anyone got the words of this??
Because when a woman gets sick, she has to do it in a pretty way
*SNAP SNAP SNAP, SON*
Right but you know what if they had sold this pink a few years earlier than they did, I might still have my mother today!
But she's wearing pink...
Breast cancer awareness isn't about men liking the female body or the "sexism" of the colour pink, breast cancer awareness is about the thousands of women who suffer and die from it, leaving families and friends behind. So don't start with the whole "awareness is all about money and profit"...awareness is about finding a cure for a disease that slowly sucks the life out of people until they can't take it anymore. We will fight for a cure.
Where's Vlad the Impaler when you need him? He'd put an end to this.
pink was considered a manly color, in one culture that I can't seem to recall at the moment.... saying that the experience wasn't pink is as arbitrary as saying that the experience wasn't purple, and I don't really see what she's trying to say. Women aren't expected to get sick "prettily" or whatever, they're expected to lose hair and vomit their guts (if they survive that long). cancer is undignified by nature, do not look for it to be otherwise. The moral of the story: don't "not buy" pink ribbon stuff because it's..... pink (I can't get over how stupid that sounds). instead, "don't buy it" because that entire organization has shown little initiative to actually find a cure, rather, they are likely seeking profit.
"The moral of the story: don't "not buy" pink ribbon stuff because it's..... pink (I can't get over how stupid that sounds). instead, "don't buy it" because that entire organization has shown little initiative to actually find a cure, rather, they are likely seeking profit." yes thank you. Companies sell "pink" products that help find and cure, but if they keep most of it, it does little. It should be at least 50% of the profits go, but companies are greedy and want to keep some.
One of the biggest obstacles in finding a cure for cancer actually lies in the companies supposedly finding the cure. It's like that way for a lot of things, including sustainable energy. It's kind of sick, but it's the truth of the situation.
Lot of things need to change.
Notice how all the rude and senseless comments comments are made by men.
It is because the breast cancer sign?
minus green
The finger snapping is soooo lame. And apparently right on to of the microphone. Wait until she finishes and then show your appreciation.
I agree. The finger snapping is lame, but the poem is great.
This is just how poetry slams/spoken word is done. It's like at a live performance. You clap along to the music at points and shout "Yesss! Or woooo!" when singers hit high notes. Poetry is admired with snaps.
I love the poem and it has a beautiful message, but I don't think that products profiting for breast-cancer were made pink because we have to be pretty no matter what. I think that although she made a great statement of how we as women shouldn't have to follow these certain "standards" by some, she searched a little too hard to find another way to blame society just based on a color choice for the representation of something.
whats the poem that goes "i wake up every morning wanting to kill myself, then I go to sleep wondering why I didn't"?
Isabel carvaHAUL the future, by Neil Hilborn
The only bad thing about this poem is the fact she didn't mention that men can get Breast cancer too
You can't argue though that breast cancer isn't very, very rare in men. It's mostly associated with women. She isn't excluding men here. She's talking about herself.
She's talking about herself, or the girl that she is embodying in the poem.
Poetry has truly been poisoned by the twitterati and tumblrites.
I don't want to take away from her experience, but she doesn't have a fucking clue. She has no idea what it's like to watch someone you love disintegrate in front of you. She has no idea what it's like to walk away from someone starting their first chemo and leave them there, all alone, in that chair, not having any clue what was going to happen to them. And you know what, after the first one, it doesn't get one fucking bit easier. "when women get sick, we have to do it in a pretty way" don't you dare make this about something it's not. The only fucking pretty part about breast cancer is the pink. It is a reminder that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that there is one special thing bonding survivors, families and supporters together. So don't disrespect the pink ribbon. It is so much more than the colour.
Is there a place where I can listen without the obnoxious crowd? Most of what this women was trying to articulate was lost in thumb staps and woos.
People pick the stupidest things to get mad about. Of all the pain and suffering and worry and heartache cancer brings into your life, you're mad about the color used to get people's attention and raise awareness for the issue? Girl, please. 😒
Pink was never meant to be used to "describe" this disease. Certain colors are assigned with certain meanings because we are visual creatures and so, we are more likely to pay attention to bright colors and other things that are stimulating to our brains.
She sort of acts like only women get breast cancer.
The whole breast cancer awareness tends to leave out men, even though they too get breast cancer, I wouldn't fault her for that.
Ashley ASHLEYM But isn't most people leaving men out of breast cancer awareness all the more reason to make sure they get mentioned?
Um. Wow. We as a society assign colors to everything. There are ribbons in nearly every color to show support for whatever cause. To say that pink is not an appropriate color for breast cancer is ridiculous to me. The color signifies femininity, no matter what people say about gender roles, I think we can all agree on that. Is it a horrible disease? God yes. But of the many horrible things it does, it takes what what many women think makes them feminine. It takes your hair and your breasts and in most cases your ability to have children. So excuse the hell out of Susan G. for trying to give some of that softness back in any way she can. Pink is mostly a positive color and I think some positivity should be associated with breast cancer. And as for the merchandise, it is raising awareness, raising funds, and raising self esteem so that women aren't ashamed to be sick. They can carry their bags and cups and wear their shirts without having be self conscious. So to me, this poem was spitting all the good the color pink has done for breast cancer.
I don't think she understand, the pink ribbon is suppose to symbolize women, who get breast cancer far more often then men do, it was never suppose to prepare you for breast cancer it was merely for awareness that it exists and used in an effort to raise money for a cure to breast cancer. She is labeling something so good as if it was a terrible thing.
Yes cancer of any ind is terrifying, I mean who doesn't know that?
Are you seriously arguing that you don't want to show a doctor your breast for your health because you feel violated, how is that at all equivalent to the magnitude of the problem? The doctor is trying to help you, the doctor doesn't care about looking at your breasts for pleasure reasons, it's not the same thing.
She puts a very ugly face on something that's trying to help her. How sad.
I don't think you need to take it so literally. It's a piece of poetry, an expression of feeling, a piece of art. Her words transcend their literal meaning. My interpretation was that she went through an experience, an incredibly unpleasant one, and it didn't feel pink and warm to her, it felt much more sinister. I don't think that she is saying that this is a bad campaign or that the pink ribbon should be replaced with something more befitting, such as skull and crossbones. All she is saying is that she didn't feel 'pink'. This is her experience, not yours. I know nothing about this woman, but she certainly seems capable of understanding the pink ribbon campaign for what it is.
If in fact you are just being a troll, then well done. It was well executed, you got me to bite.
She's not labeling the good as bad. She's saying that her feeling wasn't represented by that campaign. Although that campaign does have an underlying "good" cause, they use a lot of it for profit. Think about it, how many people do you think actually send in those yogurt tops that donate 10 cents to breast cancer? Not many. Then, how many people do you think buy those yogurts because they donate to the cause? A way larger amount. Companies "pink out" things solely for profit, that is something she's drawing attention to.
I thought this was a wonderful poetic version of the flood of emotions and thoughts that go through the mind of a woman suddenly faced with a breast lump....there is no right or wrong ......
I don't think you understand this poem at all.....
How sad...that you only got one like, but 10+ replies. :)
it's ironic because she's wearing pink.....
Bernadine Lim that has nothing to do with the point!
Strawberry Cake Unicorn
I know but to me it's a bit ironic
I’m all for a good feminist piece, but this ain’t it.