It’s great to donate money to charities. It feels good and you know it’s going to those who need it the most. However, there can be times when you question the source and even the motive for donating money.

Pornhub.com, a pornography website, wanted to donate 1 cent for every 30 pornographic videos watched from two categories- “Big tits” and “Small tits”- to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation during the month of October. However, the foundation rejected the money stating Pornhub.com, “is not a partner (partners provide opportunity to reach people where they live, work and play)” and are “not accepting donations” from the site.

The Komen Foundation took a great stand by rejecting the donation because money donations should not come from just any place. The language and image used by the company donating money should meet the standards of the charity receiving the money.

Porn is usually kept under the radar. Porn movies are not sold in most electronic stores, and if they are, they are covered. This gives the understanding that porn is unacceptable and unfitting. If the Komen foundation accepts the money, it is as if they are accepting pornography. This might be something the foundation does not want to represent.

The Komen Foundation had a scandal this year when it tried to cut funds to the Planned Parenthood health centers across the U.S., but because of the backlash, the foundation began to fund the health centers once again. The scandal further spread when the Roman Catholic Archdiocese stopped its donations to the Komen Foundation.

If the Komen Foundation were to accept the money from Pornhub.com, there could be a backlash just like that of Planned Parenthood. An ongoing corporate partner might not like Komen accepting the money, so they could decide to pull the plug on its donations to Komen. Eventually, more corporations would stop donating and putting financial aid for research and treatment at risk.

According to The New York Times, this is what could have happened to Dr. Claudia Henschke during her research on early detection for lung cancer in 2006. She used donations from the Liggett group, maker of several cigarette brands.

Chief medical officer Dr. Otis Brawley from the American Cancer Society said if he would have known Dr. Henschke had received money from the cigarette company, the American Cancer Society wouldn’t have donated $100,000 in grants from 2004 to 2007.

Not only that, the Komen Foundation transmits positivity while a porn site is purely unsophisticated entertainment, often seen as negative. It would be inappropriate for the Komen Foundation to say “We have received such amount of money from Pornhub.com” during a speech in front of the president of the U.S.

Also, we can see how poorly Pornhub.com decided to advertise for donations.

By giving specific video categories for its viewers to watch and having titles like “Big and Small tits,” seem to objectify women to body parts. Most survivors have had mastectomies and might be insecure about their bodies. In spite of this, the site implies cancer victims should accept money from female porn stars who have both breasts.

Similarly, mywalkgear.com advertises breast cancer awareness by selling a t-shirt printed with “Squeeze a boob save a life” and selling a messenger bag stating “Save the hooters.” The use of language in both scenarios needs to be more suitable.

The porn site should not rely on advertising boobs to save boobs. Breast cancer is more than just saving boobs. It is about saving the person and making them feel powerful.

Even though Pornhub.com claims to provide free viewership, the money collected for donations could greatly benefit the porn site. One can only wonder what the site will do with the rest of the money collected. In reality, it seems Pornhub.com wants to bring more people into their website.

Program coordinator for the Multi-Cultural Center at Sacramento State Jessica Castellon said there are other ways to obtain donations.

“The foundation is so big that they kind of have to be careful with what they symbolize. If they were from a smaller foundation maybe their decision wouldn’t be that hard,” Castellon said.

Companies who wish to donate money should do their homework and think about the impact their donation will have on the charity which is not just economically but socially and emotionally. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation is well-known to provide services to many in a professional way as well as receive donations from companies with legitimate status in society. It’s true WWE donates to the Komen Foundation, but its entertainment is not as racy as that of the porn industry.

To the porn site money is just money. But to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, money is not just money because it matters where it comes from. Pornhub.com needs to look at the bigger picture and consider the effects of its actions.

Elizabeth can be reached at: [email protected]