Pink is splashed across the brick walls and shower floors; there are even pink metal lockers, carpeting, sinks, showers and urinals.

For decades, visiting football teams playing at Kinnick Stadium have dressed and showered in a pink locker room.

Critics of the University of Iowa’s visitors’ locker room say the use of pink demeans women and perpetuates offensive stereotypes about women and homosexuality.

The tradition was started by former Iowa coach Hayden Fry, a psychology major who said pink had a calming and passive effect on people. Which may have some truth to it, considering the Hawkeyes have won about 64 percent of their home games.

In a different arena, the color pink is being used as a marker of a more noble cause.

Comedy and corralling broncos and bulls are the usual way Mighty Mike Wentworth displays his courage. But he has a more colorful way to show his toughness.

Wentworth, a professional clown and barrel man, outfits himself in a pink shirt in support of Wrangler’s “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” campaign.

“Tough Enough to Wear Pink” is a benevolent initiative designed to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research.

Wentworth, who is sponsored by Wrangler, said that part of the money he earns for working rodeos goes to breast cancer research.

Wentworth said he is more than happy to show his support for the campaign and talks to people about the significance of the color.

“Oh yeah, absolutely, I even wear pink outside of clowning,” Wentworth said. “If it helps a cause that is as good as that, then I am up for it.”

Wentworth said he wears a pink shirt almost every show and had one on every day but one when the Lone Star Rodeo came to Bowling Green.

“I just had no more clean ones to wear,” he said.

The program was created by a combination of American brands and rodeo sponsors in the western industry in 2005.

From pink shirts and boots, to pink hat stickers and saddle pads, “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” supporters are ponying up to support the cause. Rodeos sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association are also getting involved by sponsoring local rodeo “Tough Enough” nights.

The public relations spokesperson could not be reached for comment on how much the campaign has raised in its two years of existence, but the Wrangler Company stated in a press release that they hoped to reach more than $1 million.

According to a 2007 report filed by the American Cancer Society, 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected. Breast cancer death rates have been dropping steadily since 1990, one report says.

The same report said the decline is a result of earlier detection and better treatments. About 40,910 breast cancer deaths are expected in 2007.

Such a report proves that people still need to cowboy up when it comes to fighting a disease that affects so many, even if it means donning a little more pink to remind people there is still a cure that hasn’t been found.

Andrew McNamara is a senior news/editorial journalism major from LaVergne, Tenn. He is a reporter for the Herald sports section.

The opinions expressed in this commentary do not reflect the opinions of the Herald or the university.