Cop a Feel - new advert

[50sandFabulous]

"Hey guys and gals, and non binary pals..... remember to check your chest"

If you can't manage to say the word BREAST, when you are urging women to check their breasts, then quite frankly, you can Fuck Off.

New radio advert - GAH.

I checked my chest. I feel ribs. Maybe I am doing it in a wrong area of chest. If only there was a word for the part of chest I am supposed to check.....

A good friend is a consultant specialist g in male breast cancer. Women have breasts, men have breasts - is this some curtain twitching.lowrr middle class euphemism?

Usually I agree on these sorts of subjects where the word women is erased. But on this one I am not fussed.
I think it’s because:
This is a charity, not NHS
Men can (rarely) get breast cancer so checking is probably a good thing to do

Ah, but it would appear no one has breasts now - just chests. Maybe the Non Binary people have chests? More like a mental illness, but let's just appease them, eh?

Daft, isn't it? Your chest is a different part of your anatomy to your breasts. And 'non binary' has bugger all to do with it. Honestly, we really are lost if people can't cope with seeing any reference to their sex in medical information.

Men can get breast cancer too. In their chests.

I don't particularly care one way or the other about whether or not they mention non-binary people as they're such a tiny proportion of the population.

But whether or not it's strictly the correct terminology, I and most men I know don't routinely refer to the areas around our nipples as breasts. Tell 100 men that they have breasts and at least dozens of them will feel insulted and think you're calling them fat.

If you want to encourage men to check themselves for lumps then referring to checking breasts will very likely cause at least a substantial minority of men to stop listening and think you're not talking to them.

Males get breast cancer too. They don’t like to hear that they also have breast tissue, so it makes sense to use the word chest. Women know they need to check their breasts - what’s your issue with encouraging others to do the same when they don’t know they should?

Why can't they say breasts chests and pecs? That would cover everyone. I agree men don't like the idea of having breasts, so using positive language like pecs might help encourage them and direct them to the right kind of area

Men also get breast cancer. 'Chest' covers the bodies of everyone who gets breast cancer, men and women. It's not excluding anyone who is at risk.

I had to have treatment for a breast condition fairly recently and when I was having my mammogram (the first one I'd ever had) I mentioned to the radiographer that it seemed to me like it would be difficult to do them on very flat-chested women and she said 'Oh, we have loads of ways of doing them - I scan men on a daily basis too so we're used to adapting the process'. So it's not a bad idea at all to encourage men to check themselves too and remind them that it's not just women who need to keep an eye on this stuff.

If you don't believe that being non-binary is a real thing, of course that's up to you and it's a valid opinion to hold. But surely, even if you don't think it's real, you would still want people who do identify that way to check themselves for signs of cancer? And to be covered by public health campaigns? You don't have to accept someone's identity/label/whatever but surely you'd rather they didn't die of cancer.

Im pretty sure that the vast, vast majority of the population can work out where they're supposed to check from that advice.

Whereas if it said breasts then men would assume it didn’t apply to them. It is clearly a campaign aimed at all. Not just women.

Breasts and pecs then.
Chest are just largearea of body.

It's like saying check your pelvic region instead of testicles for testicular cancer

Why can't they say breasts chests and pecs?

Because 'chest' already covers 'breasts' and 'pecs'. Saying 'breasts, chests and pecs' is a bit like saying 'cats, animals and dogs' or 'apples, fruit and cherries'.

Pecs would be incorrect. Breast cancer doesn't occur in pectoral muscles, it occurs in breast tissue, which is situated in the chest. I suppose they could have said "breasts and chests". Maybe they thought that "chests" covered it, since that's where breasts are. 🤷

1 in 7 women get breast cancer

1 in 1000 men get breast/chest cancer

So WHY would we omit the word breast from the Advert that is promoting that you get checked?

Make it make sense!

In fairness, men can get breast cancer too. And where their nipples are also breasts (I believe).

Just ignore the nonsense binary remark, they're already covered. Totally unnecessary 🙄

It's just plain ol' appeasement, isn't it?

Breast tissue extends up into the armpit, right? That's not the chest.

Because it's promoting it to everyone, not just to women. Most women know that they need regular checks. Most men don't, so it's encouraging them as well. You are very deliberately not seeing this.

It really isn't like that at all.

The 'chest' is the upper part of the torso, which includes breasts. Breast tissue can extend beyond where you think your actual breasts are. 'Pecs' are a single muscle and barely visible on a lot of men. 'Chest' is perfectly fine and covers all bases.

I know full well why people are tying themselves in knots over this, but the language used is by far the most logical for this campaign.

That is perfect wording

But when you say chests, that doesn't reach out to me - a woman with breasts.

So as long as we catch a few men in this campaign, that's more important than appealing to millions of women, who are far more likely to develop cancer in this area?

Thank goodness - the men will be okay, and if we don't reach out to women, Bah, who cares eh? 🙄

Maybe, in a campaign to encourage men to get their prostrates checked, we should say :

"Guys, Gals and non binary Pals, get the area beneath your bladder checked"

Very inclusive. 👏

Lots of pp saying that women already know to check their breasts so is the ad just for men then? If so fine, if not it should be chests and breasts, include everyone.

No... its in breast tissue.

Personally I find the 'cop a feel' language pretty gross too. That's the sort of thing misogynistic men use in a derogatory way to talk about groping or fondling a woman. Often without her consent.

So nice for a charity to sexualise a medical issue by using misogynistic language.

That aside, 'Everyone - even men! - should check their breast tissue for lumps' seems like it covers all the bases without offending anyone.