Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Reminder: Susan G. Komen Is Actually Bad

Punk may be bitter at times, but here, he's right
Photo Credit: WWE.com
It's October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Several major entertainment outlets have taken the chance to color everything they can pink and get in bed with charities looking to eradicate the disease. On the surface, the month is a good thing, as breast cancer ravages women (and even some men). So it should follow that organizations like WWE should be praised for turning everything they can pink and raising money for breast cancer research? Well, about that...

WWE is partnering with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and at least one former employee wasn't afraid to call his former employer out on it:

Many saw the tweet as red meat to attack Punk for going after his former place of work out of bitterness. In this case, he's justified. Komen is bad. Very bad.

Only 20% of funds collected go towards researching breast cancer causes and treatments. The rest? Uh, that money is accounted for in a big ol' ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ in the largest possible font. For one, the CEO of the company has, in the past, made six figures. Funny how a non-profit charity can pay nearly $700K to its leader, but at the same time, the charity took in $55 million. So where is the rest of the money going?

Well, it's not going to Planned Parenthood, for sure. Komen stopped funding the group in 2012 in a pincer attack along with Republicans in Congress. PP is known for abortions, but the controversial practice only accounts for a fraction of its services. For poor women, Planned Parenthood is the only avenue for their feminine healthcare needs. If women without insurance can't afford to get mammograms and other treatments at a regular doctor, then shouldn't a charity like Komen fund Planned Parenthood so they can go get that treatment affordably? I mean, Komen fights for breast cancer sufferers, right? Apparently, not if you're poor.

AT least Komen can cravenly use abortion (and for the record of full disclosure, I am absolutely pro-choice) to hide behind its disdain of poor women via Planned Parenthood. What about its draconian thresholds for donation? If you even want to think about organizing a breast cancer walk with Komen, you had better be able to raise a shitload of money or don't even think about contacting them. Apparently, Komen is only interested in big ticket donations to make itself look good. And of course, that philosophy lines up with why WWE would partner with the "charity." Philanthropy is how brands can win. Stephanie McMahon liked that quote so much she retweeted it:

And that's what this whole partnership is about, building a brand. If WWE really cared about breast cancer patients and survivors, it would partner with a charity that didn't have as much overhead, that donated money en masse to actual research, and that didn't openly hate poor people, the ones who need this kind of charity the most, the way Komen does. WWE does some good with its charity work in other areas, like Make-a-Wish. But here, WWE misses the mark, and you don't need to be a bitter ex-employee like CM Punk to see it.

- Data sourced from Wikipedia