Subscribe to this blog's feedI am afraid to count the number of days since I last blogged. I know I was in Australia and that was some time in August. It wouldn't be one of my blogs unless I started with a mea culpa for my absence. What can I say? The time flies and there is so much to do and so little of the flying time in which to do it. Anyway, I'm back.
So I got up this morning and as I carved out a sizeable wedge of my Entenmann's raspberry twist danish, I realized that the box was covered with pink ribbons and messages about breast cancer awareness. And thinking back to my last visit to Shoprite, as I piled my food onto the beltway to check out, I noticed that the coffee cake was not the only edible vehicle of breast cancer awareness. My bread and my M&Ms were also emblazoned with pink-lettered messenging. Heck, the M&Ms themselves were pink and white. So were the Tic Tacs. I have to give it to the girls behind breast cancer--the Susan G. Komen Foundation has really gone beyond the pale to ensure that everyone - EVERYONE - knows that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. All over America I'm sure women are plowing through their pink chocolate covered candies while waiting to be screened for cancer.
As I ate my cake, I had to wonder, why is there no National AIDS Awareness Month? I know we have World AIDS Day, coming up on December 1st. And there's National HIV Testing Day each year in June, but why does AIDS get only two days and breast cancer gets 31? The answer is that there's no organization in the AIDS community pushing for public, month-long awareness the way Komen does. And it's a shame. Because the stats for women (people!) contracting HIV are certainly dire enough to warrant such a month of focus.
At my previous magazine, I wrote our annual feature story about breast cancer for three years. The final year I wrote about it, I was invited to a "Survivors Ball" held at a swanky hotel in northern NJ. I remember that a wealthy, and anonymous, patron had donated hundreds of the most beautiful pink peonies I have ever seen. The whole ballroom was awash in fuschia and 800 women came together that night to celebrate their survival - and remember the ones who had been lost to the disease.
At one point, a Latina woman who knew I was writing the story approached me and said she wanted to show me something. She led me to the ladies room, lifted her blouse, opened her stuffed brassiere and showed me two horrific circular scars where her breasts had once been. She'd had a double masectomy in the 1960s and had not been given the option to reconstruct her breasts. It looked like they'd been removed with a chainsaw. I steadied mysef and after redressing she said, "Only you and my husband have seen what they did to me. I have been ashamed of myself for 45 years. But tonight, I am no longer ashamed. I am proud I have lived and I now know that I am still a complete woman even without my breasts. I just wanted you to know that."
I think I staggered out of that bathroom. 45 years of shame. I'd had 10 with my HIV. I knew was she had felt, but I wasn't about to let my HIV cat out of the bag, not that night, not in that setting. I wasn't ready then.
I thanked her for sharing her story with me and returned to my table. The evening was coming to a crescendo - the band fired up Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and 800 women danced and sang out at the top of their lungs and cried and waved handfuls of peonies about. I was so grateful that so many people were crying because it seemed perfectly normal that water would be running down my face - I was the compassionate journalist, right? Caught up in the moment, totally empathisizing with a throng of incredible women who cheered for their tenacity and cried for the inevitable casualties of a deadly disease.
I cried for all that, but I also cried for all those living with HIV/AIDS and all those who'd died from it. And I cried because it seemed so incredibly wrong that a group of AIDS survivors couldn't have a similar ball, in a fancy ballroom, with big red flowers on the table. Since that night, I have hoped that someday those of us living with HIV will be able to celebrate as openly as those women who had beaten breast cancer.
I think it's reasonable to expect that if people can be sitting down to breakfast, slicing up sweet, sticky pieces of coffee cake that remind them to get tested (early! early detection equals survival!) for breast cancer, that we can do the same thing for AIDS. Personally, I think AIDS can become as socially acceptable a disease as breast cancer. And I think the messaging should be similar: take control of your life - know your status.
I look forward to the day when I'll be eating my Entenmann's AIDS coffee cake, grateful for the survival of many, paying tribute to those who have passed, and feeling calmer knowing that people all across America are thinking matter of factly about the need to get tested for HIV.
Maybe I'm naive, but I think that if the companies who support breast cancer would do the same thing for AIDS, it would help to normalize the disease. Putting AIDS out into the open, and onto, say, a bag of bite-sized Snickers bars, might go a long way towards helping people understand that this is just another disease that can affect everyone - a disease that is best fought if addressed as early as possible.
I think I'm gonna call a few of those companies and see what they'd say...
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter!
Comments (15)
Thanks for the reminder
Posted by Ann | October 22, 2007 9:30 AM
Posted on October 22, 2007 09:30
Amen!
Posted by sara thompson | October 22, 2007 12:16 PM
Posted on October 22, 2007 12:16
I agree . I have often wondered why ther was not a National Aids Awaareness Month. Is ther anything we can do to start one?
Posted by Don Mink | October 24, 2007 9:57 AM
Posted on October 24, 2007 09:57
I ALSO FEEL THAT WE NEED A MONTH SET ASIDE FOR HIV/AIDS. I PROVE FREE HIV TESTING .IN MONTGOMERY,AL. AND THE STATE.I HAVE MATERIAL ON HIV/AIDS AND CANCERS.IF SOMEONE NEED TESTING GIVE ME A CALL 334-324-4338.
Posted by rev. w.j.smith | October 24, 2007 12:06 PM
Posted on October 24, 2007 12:06
Hello Mr Hofmann
WE are volunteers for The Center in Denver and we have really been involved in getting the word out and would love to help in anyway to let people know that this is not just a gay disease.
We noticed recently in a college were we had brochures and talked to many people about AIDS and also noticed that some didnt seem to care which bothered me that being OUT but i look like your normal average man that they wouldnt ask me..
I have the ability and the desire to be an AIDS activist and i want the world to know that everyone needs to be tested just for there own well being and to be safe..
We have HIV and we are not ashamed but if we can help someone not face the battle i have it would make my heart feel so much love and power to feel i had the chance to show that we care enough about them..
Larry Greene and Matthew Niffen
Posted by larry and matthew | October 24, 2007 12:49 PM
Posted on October 24, 2007 12:49
I Sent a Email to NBC 3 months ago asking why they only cover Cancer and heart related issues and why they did not cover anything on HIV advance research and new drugs to help HIV and ADS. Well Maybe we could start a By send a mass email to all the news outlets and to congress and to the people who want to be the next president. It time to push to the next phase. They keep Cancer in the dark now they got help. It is time people see that HIV is not Gay or drugs or sex or color. It hits anyone at any age. My question is how to reach the media 1st. then congress. CDC ect.Any one one that could help get this push started.
Enclosed is a copy of the Email I sent on 8-1-2007 to NBC
Harland Buis [buish@bellsouth.net
'nightly@nbc.com'
Why HIV does not get media attention.
I have noticed that you only talk about health problems like heart,cancer,and others. But never the front on HIV or Aids. When is the media going to break down this barrier. The world still sees this as only one time co come up in December HIV awareness. There are a lot of people that are HIV positive. I'm living good and very healthy. There are so many wall to bring down. Has NBC every thought about doing a weekly segment. Get a pulse of if America is still got blinders on. In the rule area of the south. and in a African American population there is still bad stigma with HIV positive person. And in the south some churches help and be supportive and some close the door in your face. I became positive in 2005. I just see that all the media and no one in the US is stepping up to how HIV positive people are living longer. And also how this effects seniors also that are HIV positive how they have to deal with this. Harland
Here is NBC Response 8-1-2007
Nightly Viewer Mail [NightlyViewerMail@nbcuni.com]
RE: Why HIV does not get media attention
Thank you for contacting NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.
Your feedback is critically important to Nightly News.
We began using our e-mail address in December of 1993. Since then, we have been pleased to receive valuable feedback from our viewers . We are especially encouraged that many of you are suggesting stories you would like us to report or investigate.
Many of our important stories come directly from your letters and we look forward to any ideas and comments you have in the future.
We will try to answer as many of your inquiries as possible, but answers to many of your frequently asked questions can be answered on our website: www.Nightly.MSNBC.com, where you can also watch the NBC Nightly News Netcast, The Early Nightly and watch video or read printed versions of recent stories.
While you're there, you can also read and respond to our blog: www.DailyNightly.MSNBC.com
TRANSCRIPTS - Transcripts for all NBC News Programs are available through the Burrelle Transcript Service by calling 1-800-777-TEXT.
VIDEOTAPES - Segments from NBC News programs are available on vhs cassette through NBC NEWS ARCHIVES. You can purchase a segment for $150 by mailing a request to:
NBC NEWS ARCHIVES
30 Rockefeller Plaza
Room 327W
Posted by Harland Buis | October 25, 2007 12:33 AM
Posted on October 25, 2007 00:33
I couldn't agree with you more. Here in Australia we at least have AIDS Awreness Week leading up to World AIDS Day. It gives us a brief window of opportunity to get people thinking about WAD and HIV and know that on the 1st we'll be out on the streets selling ribbons and shaking the tin!
Yes everything is covered in pink in Oz at the moment! A worthy cause! I think the noticeable difference here, and I'm sure in the US, Canada, UK etc, bewteen the cancer and HIV sector is the $$$ and the size of the workforce/ volunteers etc behind the cause as well as the public profile of cancer. But i think as long as week keep plugging away, nipping at the heels of people of influence and getting in peoples faces we will get there.
Posted by Kylie | October 25, 2007 10:32 PM
Posted on October 25, 2007 22:32
Ann,
The reason there is no HIV/AIDS month is because of the stigma attached to it. I don't care what the CDC says. It is not the same thing as cancer or diabetes, though it is now controllable with meds. Remember your history. This is the disease that used to be called GRID--Gay Related Immuno Dificiency syndrome. The stimga is still there and probably won't really be jettisoned until those in the retirement-age bracket have passed away.
That said, I do think it is important for someone to take a stand. We had Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson really put a face on the disease early on when so many people were dying. We need someone to rise to the occassion, someone besides Magic Johnson.
Posted by Kevin Lowery | October 27, 2007 2:17 PM
Posted on October 27, 2007 14:17
I have been positive since 1986. I was 18. I didn't get tested till 1991, when my boyfriend died in Dallas. AIDS has affected my whole adult life. I'm glad for the people who pose for posters saying,"I refuse to let HIV define who I am," but there were too many years I thought I was about to die from it, for it to not have formed who I became.
When I turned 40 last year I had a routine mammogram - the results of which were "concerning," but I was told I probably had a cyst, which could be diagnosed by ultrasound. The ultrasound determined it was not a cyst, and probably a fibroadenoma, a benign tumor a lot of women have. I could either schedule a biopsy then, or promise to return in six months to see if it has changed.
I didn't go back, and I don't want to, and the reason I don't want to is I'm sure taboo to say,(and obviously irrational), but I like the idea of potentially dying of breast cancer. The idea was so profoundly relieving. It made me feel "normal" that I could die of something "natural" rather than acquired. It made me feel feminine, and that my sexual identity counted, that the damage mattered.
I have worked most of my life to make the best of having AIDS in very matter of fact ways, so I was shocked at the feelings of contamination and exclusion I had, juxtaposed to an alternative demise.
I'm probably fine, but this is really twisted - I have feelings of affection for my little lima-bean shaped tumor of light on the sonogram screen. Like a symbol of redemption.
I'm sorry I don't have a point to this, other than expression of a reaction I would never have expected from myself. Thank you for bringing up the subject. I wrote an article about it at http://conversationsintime.blogspot.com/2007/10/breast-health-awareness.html
Posted by +PHc | November 24, 2007 5:07 AM
Posted on November 24, 2007 05:07
i just now began viewing the blogs. I like all of them, but wanted to comment on this one. i had thought the same thing when i was shopping at my supermarket and the bags were pick and many of the items i purchased were pick. the store also had pink ribbons tied to their cashier post (the one with the light and # at the top).
I am a RN, 18 years experience and for some time was an AIDS Certified Registered Nurse. I am still confused today over the lack of knowledge my community has of the disease. People are afraid to date someone with HIV/AIDS, but are not concerned about all the other STDs out there that though not as immediately possibly life threatening, are difficult to live with i.e. warts, herpes, ...
I have many friends long time survivors in wonderful health over 16 years and are doing very well with their daily and love lives.
I believe a month of awareness would be wonderful. Get people to discuss it. Education, education education. I know i am preaching to the chior.
thanks for this opportunity to vent.
Posted by don black | November 28, 2007 7:20 PM
Posted on November 28, 2007 19:20
I have to agree that the stigma attached to HIV is probably the main reason why it doesn’t have its own awareness month. I also believe that the media doesn’t give HIV/AIDS enough coverage. I work for a news station and the main news anchor has a whole section just for breast cancer on the site. It’s adorned with pink ribbons and reports all based on breast cancer. During October she did a report every week on Breast Cancer Awareness and survival stories and so forth. I enjoy her dedication and her effort, but then I realized that people sometimes don’t notice or care about thing they are not “affected” by. Then I told her about me and she was surprised. She thought, “Oh how young.” At that moment I realized that she had never imagined someone my age to be positive. I bet she was surprised that I worked with her day in and day out and she had no clue. Yet there I was breaking her bubble. Since then she did a couple of HIV/AIDS stories. She also did this story on Bug Chasers, since a play that came down to Miami was based on that.
Reading what Ms. Hofmann wrote is exactly how I feel about pink ribbons. I would like to see Red Ribbons adorning my chocolate bars. I often find myself staring at the license plates in front of me while I'm driving down Ocean Drive and ponder, “When will I see a Red Ribbon on that tag?”
Posted by Jesus "Jesse" Sanchez | December 26, 2007 2:02 AM
Posted on December 26, 2007 02:02
If you would like some help making calls, let me know. I'm fairly good at the art of persuasion...I also happen to believe you are absolutely right about marketing for awareness. The Komen foundation has been brilliant. I think we can be even better.
Posted by Susan | January 2, 2008 2:29 PM
Posted on January 2, 2008 14:29
Well I agree with all of you and I think I have one more thing to say. I really feel that most case workewrs are over burdened with cases so I want to leave them out. Yet I feel that the workers with in the hostpitals and all the workers who deal with aids each and every day need to help. I also feel that the reason ther e are those that do not help, is the fact they will get set aside just like we do. They will have their kids with no friend cause mommy works with HIV/AIDS people ir Daddy is a HIV/AIDS doctor and I do not want you to get infected. We need Global education. One standard for all education. I am not saying one system. I am saying one standard. Every one needs to learn what every one else is learning so we can work toward peace with out predjudice!!
Posted by Craig | January 3, 2008 12:23 AM
Posted on January 3, 2008 00:23
There is still too much negativity associated with HIV/AIDS. Until we get Hollywood strongly supporting our cause we will never overcome this stigma nor will we ever see the support the "pink disease" sees. It's unfortunate because so many people are losing their lives needlessly.
Posted by Leslie | January 8, 2008 2:36 AM
Posted on January 8, 2008 02:36
I can't believe there isn'' and HIV/AIDS awareness month. I always assumed that December was . You know what they say about assuming..LOL I came across your blog today while searching HIV blogs like my own. I am a Campaign Ambassador for Hope's Voice and I am a part of their Does HIV Look Like Me ? Campaign. I also just started my own website called POZIAM.com .I launched in on October 21, 2007. I welcome you to visit my site and take a look around.
I myself have emailed many news teams about why coverage is limited to ONLY Dec 1.
Thanks for making this blog . I found myself trapped in your words and wanting to read more.
IN HOPES OF INSPIRING,
Robert Breining
www.poziam.com
Posted by Robert Breining | January 11, 2008 11:46 PM
Posted on January 11, 2008 23:46