Spring Break
Calendar makes a personal attack
Number of different ways to contribute to cancer research
Ryan Dostalek
Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: Editorial/Opinion
Selling your half-naked body for cancer research isn't a story; it's a mirror to character.
I know there have been models in the calendar that have had cancer and their family commends them for their work, but generalizing is a dangerous thing. I find it hard to believe that my girlfriend's grandmother battling breast cancer would find the calendar appropriate, or the 300 cancer patients and founders of One Step at A Time Camp, a camp for children who have or have had cancer. Did you go over to Sacred Heart or Luther-Middlefort or Mayo's oncology departments and ask the patients if they would appreciate a calendar of half-naked women being sold for their cause if they thought it represented them?
Organizers of the calendar claim on the calendar's Web site that creating the calendar is a great way to get "hands on experience that future employers will value." If one of the models or creators end up working for Sports Illustrated, Maxim or Playboy, sure they might value the "project," but when one goes to apply at a financial institution or government organization or other company, I don't think they'll value your swimsuit calendar project, let alone acknowledge it. If anything, the project could backfire during an interview and the employer will look at the creators, as people who are aiding in objectifying women and might not hire you out of concern for the women that work at the company.
Next year, I encourage the calendar group, if they want to continue in the calendar business, to go down to the local oncology units or take a road-trip to Madison to the new American Family Children's Hospital and recruit cancer patients to draw pictures for the month. Include their picture next to their drawings. Not only is it more respectful for cancer patients and survivors, it also represents us in a much cleaner and appropriate manner. And if you want to go buy the calendar this week, I encourage you to instead, take your $10 and go down to the ACS office in Altoona and give it to them, or mail it to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital instead.
I know there have been models in the calendar that have had cancer and their family commends them for their work, but generalizing is a dangerous thing. I find it hard to believe that my girlfriend's grandmother battling breast cancer would find the calendar appropriate, or the 300 cancer patients and founders of One Step at A Time Camp, a camp for children who have or have had cancer. Did you go over to Sacred Heart or Luther-Middlefort or Mayo's oncology departments and ask the patients if they would appreciate a calendar of half-naked women being sold for their cause if they thought it represented them?
Organizers of the calendar claim on the calendar's Web site that creating the calendar is a great way to get "hands on experience that future employers will value." If one of the models or creators end up working for Sports Illustrated, Maxim or Playboy, sure they might value the "project," but when one goes to apply at a financial institution or government organization or other company, I don't think they'll value your swimsuit calendar project, let alone acknowledge it. If anything, the project could backfire during an interview and the employer will look at the creators, as people who are aiding in objectifying women and might not hire you out of concern for the women that work at the company.
Next year, I encourage the calendar group, if they want to continue in the calendar business, to go down to the local oncology units or take a road-trip to Madison to the new American Family Children's Hospital and recruit cancer patients to draw pictures for the month. Include their picture next to their drawings. Not only is it more respectful for cancer patients and survivors, it also represents us in a much cleaner and appropriate manner. And if you want to go buy the calendar this week, I encourage you to instead, take your $10 and go down to the ACS office in Altoona and give it to them, or mail it to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital instead.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Calendar is bad- Ryan is right
posted 12/06/07 @ 12:48 PM CST
Great article Ryan. Especially the part about having kids with cancer make pictures or something similiar. Kudos!
This is just a way for some guys to make money off the objectification of women. (Continued…)
Just the Facts
posted 12/13/07 @ 3:15 PM CST
It would be sleezy of some guys on campus to create a calendar to make money and give some money away to make the business look legit. However that isn't the case. (Continued…)
Get it right...
posted 12/18/07 @ 1:35 AM CST
Alright, I won't take anymore of this. As a person who is involved with the making of this calendar, I object to many of the things said in this article. (Continued…)
Random Person
posted 12/24/07 @ 4:53 AM CST
I don't get it? If you don't like the idea of a calendar then don't buy it. Personally I'm not into the whole calendar pin-up girl thing so I wouldn't get one, but why not let people help in a way that is legal and something they want to do? There are no false claims to the models or about where the money goes, so why get so mad about it? People should and do have the right to have different views on how to do things like a calendar that raises money to fight cancer. (Continued…)
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