I was thinking about this as I wrote the post. Besides the breast cancer survivors network there is Code Pink as a political movement as well. And I realized that I was not a good enough writer to include these two and still get the message across as strongly as I was seeking to.

Both the breast cancer network as well as Code Pink are in many ways revolts against the underlying symbology of pink. Like NWA, and NAS - and others before them, the taking of ownership of something that previously has been used in a controlling or derogatory manner, is an act of self-empowerment. But as with the controversy around the word "nigger: points out, there is a danger/negative aspect to this as well. As one writer put it

To take ownership of this word codifies into existence all of the meaning and power that has ever been associate with it

So while breast cancer survivors are essentially using pinkness to denote that their sexuality and they themselves are about much more than their cup-size, in doing so they very much ARE making it "a women's issue" and thus limiting to a great extent their mainstreaming of the issue.

It is precisely the way pink intertwines with sexuality that both makes it a meaningful in its breast cancer context, as well as limiting. So it isn't my comments that are conveying disrespect to those battling breast cancer, it is the uderlying color symbolism.