This week the radio station I do mornings on, 90.3 AMP Radio in Calgary, launched a new contest called "Breast Summer Ever." The premise is simple: enter to win a $10,000 breast augmentation.
We'll choose 10 finalists and then we will crowd source the winner through an online vote. Photos are part of the entry, but the key for us is the story behind the entry. The reason why the entrant wants to undergo the procedure.
Upon announcement of the contest, a moderate firestorm erupted on Twitter with people calling the contest disgusting, misogynist and demeaning to women. That energy fed on itself for the morning and the mainstream media picked up on the story. You've no doubt seen one of these headlines in your local paper or on your news today:
Breast surgery contest: Is that an appropriate prize? [CBC]
Radio contest for free boobs draws fierce debate [Calgary Herald]
Breast Summer Ever contest sparks debate [Global TV]
Breast contest begets cleavages [Metro]
But a funny thing happened after the backlash. Support flooded in. This morning I threw open debate on my program and invited discussion on what, apparently, had got the community quite upset. I received no angry phone calls. Not one upset listener.
I interviewed Sandi, one of the early entrants. She lost 80 pounds last year, is a single mom and would love to fix what she calls her "gorilla boobs," that didn't quite reshape along with the rest of her body. I heard from Courtney who would love to win the contest to undergo a breast reduction to help her back pain. I heard from Danielle who has a 4-year old and would like her pre Yummy Mummy chest back.
I think the backlash came from people who thought this would be a trashy bar-star pinup promotion with young women tossing themselves out for sexist judgement, but the opposite story is coming out.
So I'd like to ask you, the Yummy Mummies, about this contest. Are you offended? Would you enter? Would it make you switch the station? Does it even matter?
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