Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Rosie the Riveter

A vintage icon image representing women's rights, Rosie the Riveter, combined with the pink ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness month in October. Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of the United States, representing the American women who worked in war factories during World War II, many of whom worked in the manufacturing plants that produced munitions and materiel. These women sometimes took entirely new jobs and sometimes took the places of the male workers who were in the military. The character is now considered a feminist icon in the US, and a herald of women's economic power to come. Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) (also referred to locally as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM)) is an annual international health campaign organised by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention and cure. The campaign also offers information and support to those affected by breast cancer. As well as providing a platform for breast cancer charities to raise awareness of their work and of the disease, BCAM is also a prime opportunity to remind women to be breast aware for earlier detection. Ribbons have been used to express solidarity on the part of the wearer with the identified cause since the early to late 20th Century. Pink Ribbons (and the colour pink) are used to express support for women (and men) who are diagnosed with Breast Cancer.