If the outcome is positive, does it matter how we get there?
I Heart Boobies bracelets. click to view source
This moral question has been applied to many different situations with several different responses. In the case of the “I Heart Boobies” cancer awareness bracelets, many schools have had different answers to the question.
Those who oppose the bracelet claim that the words are a crude reference to sex, that no one would wear them without this reference, and that blind support (wearing a bracelet only because its words are appealing) is wrong.
So, I ask you, if eradicating breast cancer is the outcome, does it matter the intentions of the bracelet wearers?
I remember shopping in Zumiez last year and coming across a beautiful pea coat. While standing in line to purchase the coat, I noticed that two thirteen-year-old boys were purchasing “I Heart Boobies” bracelets.
I was unaware of the foundation behind the product, and thought, “Man, our youth has really gone down the drain!”
The checker noticed my disappointment, and informed me that the bracelets are for cancer awareness. I then thought, “What great marketing!”
I later learned that some colleges have banned students from wearing “I Heart Boobies” bracelets due to a “sexual reference selling a product.” I thought, “No one is selling a product, they’re supporting a foundation.”
Schools that have banned these bracelets have failed to appreciate the cause behind the pun. Young people find this pun appealing, will consequently wear it on their wrists, and will promote cancer awareness.
What does this do? It aids in saving people from cancer.
However, other concerned folks not only think the bracelets are crude, but that people don’t take the cause seriously. They say, “Young people only wear these bracelets to be trendy! They don’t care about what they mean!”
Here is the question: “If the outcome is positive, does it matter how we get there?”
I have always felt that the goodness in the journey matters just as much as the goodness in the outcome. Nonetheless, no matter the intentions of wearing the bracelet, awareness of breast cancer doesn’t vanish, and neither do the profits gained from buying these bracelets.
It may very well be that the cancer is what vanishes! People see the bracelet, they’re attracted, or concerned, by the words, and find out what they mean. This is exactly what this product is made for: curiosity, awareness, action!
On a personal note, I’ve had type-one diabetes for almost fifteen years.
If a foundation created a diabetic awareness bracelet that said: “I shoot up when I’m high,” a lot of people would buy and ware this bracelet, and I would be closer to being cured.
I say wear ‘em for whatever reason you please.
