Written by Kelly Pyart.
A series of mysterious Facebook statuses are sweeping across the social network site in order to promote awareness of breast cancer.
In conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, throughout October, females have been putting up obscure statuses on their profiles to aid the cause.
Examples include ‘I like it on the desk,’ which in fact, means where females like to leave their handbag when they get home. Women have been sending their female friends private messages on Facebook with instructions regarding the statuses.
In previous years, other statuses have seen women change their Facebook status to the colour of the bra they were wearing which made it to the national news a few years ago.
Sheryl Plant, from Breast Cancer Care said “this isn’t something that Breast Cancer Care is involved in”, which makes the Facebook statuses even more bizarre. The obscurity of the status helps to raise awareness by ramping up the curiosity of anyone not involved.
When asked how important it was to raise awareness Sheryl Plant said:
“Each year 55,000 people are diagnosed in the UK with breast cancer, 400 of which are men, so it’s not just about raising awareness of breast cancer for women, but for men too.”
“This is because this type of cancer for men is extremely rare so they need to remain forewarned of any symptoms, and also for women because the earlier they are diagnosed the better.”
Other ways of raising awareness for Breast Cancer include the sale of Pink Ribbons which people can wear to signify their support for Breast Cancer.
Breast Cancer charities such as Coppafeel focus on getting women to check themselves for the signs of Breast Cancer which can include changes in the size, colour, texture or shape of breasts, any lumps or swelling and any pain in the armpit or chest area.