Representing Flat Closure at Cancer Walks

I hosted a booth at our recent Making Strides walk boosting visibility for aesthetic flat closure. We had at least 6 flatties attending, five of us were openly flat, and three of us were showing our scars.

I had a really interesting chat with some high school cheerleaders whose team had shown to perform and cheer for the walk participants. They asked questions about AFC and didn't seem that phased with the idea of being breastless. One even said, "I don't want cancer, but I sure wouldn't mind being able to take them off and put them on a shelf sometimes." They didn't seem to see not having breasts as any threat to femininity or having a normal life. I don't know if this is due to general body positivity movements, a greater acceptance of gender fluid physical presentations, a resistance to conforming to the male gaze, or some combination. But it was a noticeable paradigm shift from the social idea that women must look a certain way to be considered women.