Changing the conversation about breast cancer requires changing the culture and challenging taken-for-granted assumptions, values, beliefs, and norms. How do people intervene in a culture that is so much bigger than ourselves? We transgress. We break rules. We upset the status quo. We jam. Culture jamming is a form of political communication used to convert easily identifiable images into larger questions that encourage people to consider the heavily branded social environment. Consider this shocking illustration of the pink ribbon marketplace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJhShbSStF4
For a moment, viewers of this mock advertisement for PINK cigarettes are pushed to consider the lengths to which advertisers will go to sell a product, paint a pretty picture of corporate caring, and tug on the heart strings of individuals who want to do something to help a cause. The PINK cigarette is a fictitious example that exists on the extreme end of a continuum that is all too real. [See also: Birth of the Perpetual Fundraising Industry; Swimming in a Sea of Pink; Boobies, For Fun & Profit!; and It’s Time to Get Real.]
The Pink Ribbon Blues Poetry Jam will use poetry as a form of culture jamming that will encourage all of us to think about pink. Tap in to your creative inner activist to question assumptions, break rules, and find the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Here’s a Pink Ribbon Blues Poetry Short —
Fundraiser
by Pink Ribbon Blues
“Sleep In for the Cure,”
Dream of Eradication;
Thirty Years Winning?
The Pink Ribbon Blues Poetry Jam is open to all ages and will run from June 1 – June 30. Please submit only one poem per poet. A judging panel of noted “#cancerrebels” will select the top ten poems, which will be posted on the Pink Ribbon Blues website on July 5th. The general public will have 2 weeks to vote for their favorite pink-culture jamming poem (July 10 – July 24), and the top 3 favorites win the contest!
What Do You Win?
- Grand prize: $100 donated in your name directly to the cancer-related organization of your choice; a copy of Pink Ribbon Blues signed to you by the author; and your winning poem with a short bio of the poet displayed on the PRB website through the month of Pinktober.
- 2nd place prize: $50 donated in your name directly to the cancer-related organization of your choice; a copy of Pink Ribbon Blues signed to you by the author; and your winning poem with a short bio of the poet displayed on the PRB website through the month of Pinktober.
- 3rd place prize: $25 donated in your name directly to the cancer-related organization of your choice; a copy of Pink Ribbon Blues signed to you by the author; and your winning poem with a short bio of the poet displayed on the PRB website through the month of Pinktober.
How Do You Enter?
Write an email with the following info:
- Real Name (for charitable donation if you win)
- Poet Name
- Mailing Address (including City, State, Zip)
- Phone number
- Email address
- Your pink-culture jamming poem!
Email your entry to pinkribbonblues@gmail.com with “Entry: PRB Poetry Jam” in the subject line.
