Women Without Breasts Are Still Women

Women Without Breasts Are Still Women

The focus of a breast cancer survivor should be the woman, not her anatomy

The New York Times

We must stop imposing our patriarchal views of what a woman is supposed to look like on breast cancer patients. 

It is engrained in us to attach a certain value to women's breasts in respect to their femininity and value. But the decision to undergo reconstructive surgery or wear breast forms should be left up to a woman - and her alone. 

Following her double mastectomy at age 34, Cathie chose not to use any type of breast forms. A fitness instructor, Cathie found her prosthesis to be too "uncomfortable" and"impossible to wear" while teaching her classes. Her decision was a difficult one, but one that she felt was necessary for her own body. 

Cathie

"Going flat", as many women and physicians call it, is the decision that women who have had a mastectomy make to not have any further reconstructive surgery or prostheses. However, the majority of women still continue on with the reconstructive process. It is a deeply personal choice and it is one that should not be imposed upon by others.

Chiara D'Agostino speaks of her own decision to go flat, which was influenced by an article in The New York Times that featured "strong, beautiful, and creative images." This representation of women without their breasts depicted in a beautiful, strong manner is important in framing the narrative of empowered, breast-less women. It allows for other breast cancer survivors to  see a physical example of these women and understand that their beauty is not intertwined to what is deemed as a "normal" woman's body. 

For some women, like Cathie, going flat was the right decision due to their love of physical activity. Some women prefer to not have any additional or unnecessary procedures. Some women want to get back to their everyday lives as quickly as possible. Some women just wanted time to heal. Some women with breast cancer do not have the choice of reconstructive surgery due to radiotherapy. And for some women, not having breasts is a part of their narrative in overcoming breast cancer. Reconstructive surgery is not the right choice for every woman, but it is their choice and their choice alone.

After having a mastectomy, women are bombarded with expectations about how they will once again return to their "true form". To be a woman in a patriarchal society, of course, means having breasts. Therefore, it is only natural that a woman who has had her breasts removed would want to have them back once again.

By pushing our expectations on breast cancer survivors to wear a prosthesis invalidates the struggle in which they experienced. This struggle is something of which to be proud. In fact, around 42% of women do not have any form of breast reconstruction post mastectomy. 

Audre Lorde

In The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde, she states that “each of us [breast cancer patients] struggles daily with the pressures of conformity and the loneliness of difference from which those choices seem to offer escape. I only know that those choices do not work for me, nor for other women who, not without fear, have survived cancer by scrutinizing its meaning within our lives, and by attempting to integrate this crisis into useful strengths for change.” Herein lies great power for these women in the choice of whether or not to seek restoration of their breasts. 

Furthermore, Lorde recalls an instance where she was told by a doctor that she should wear her prosthetic breast in order to "boost the morale" of her fellow breast cancer patients. Boosting the morale of these breast cancer patients is synonymous here only with having one's breasts back. Breasts, in the realm of breast cancer survivors, are equated with strength, warriors, and success. Implying that breast cancer patients need them in order to claim victory over the disease or regain a sense of self-worth is an unfair sentiment that undermines all women. It puts their validation in the hands of others instead of themselves. It does not allow for women to reclaim their own bodies from cancer. Lorde was enough with and without her breasts - a prosthesis or surgery never had the capability to change that.

The New York Times

There is nothing wrong with choosing to have reconstructive breast surgery or choosing to wear prosthetics. Choosing this route is empowering for many women. It makes them feel more attractive. It makes them feel like their old selves. For the majority of women, reconstructive surgery or the use of breast forms is the right decision for them. 

Choosing not to have breasts after having a mastectomy, however, is also empowering. These women are still themselves. And they are still attractive. Women can be all of these things - with and without breasts. The anatomy of a woman does not change her value. By implying that women should have reconstructive surgery or use some form of prosthetics is to say her value is directly tied to her physical body. 

This sentiment is untrue and must stop being perpetuated. What makes up a woman who has survived breast cancer is courage, strength, and perseverance. We can't continue to diminish these qualities with the sentiment that the power of survivors lies within their breasts. These qualities carry more weight in a person than does breast tissue. 

Going flat is a physical symbol of the strength these women contain. It is something to be proud of. It should not be seen as something abnormal or something that is needed to be fixed. But, most importantly, it is a decision to be made by the patient and only her. Women deserve to make this decision without the pressure of outside forces. 

Cathie goes on to state that "breast cancer never truly leaves you," but isn't that the point? We often long so much to return to normalcy after a difficult life experience, whether it be cancer or the loss of a loved one, that we don't quite accept that these hardships make us who we are. They do not define us, but rather they shape us into the people we are today, they contribute to our character, they make us grow.

The breasts of women who have survived breast cancer are not symbols of her success. They are not comparable to her tenacity. The woman herself is - we must remember that.