Breast Cancer Awareness Month: What you should know about the disease
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is about more than just wearing pink ribbons, it’s about giving and receiving support.
Staff video, USA TODAY
Linking her business to climate change awareness, Kim Kardashian announced the release of her new SKIMS push-up bra with built-in nipples that “unlike the icebergs… aren’t going anywhere.”
Although Kardashian focuses on the “shock factor” and sex appeal that nipples still have, she has, perhaps unintentionally, created a product that could be a game-changer for a growing community in particular: people who have or have had breast cancer and lost theirs nipples to save her life.
“The post-traumatic stress disorder from having your body mutilated by cancer is traumatic and not a choice for many people. When you remove your nipples, you don’t just take away the aesthetics. You take away your intimacy; your ability to feed your child; Your ability to feel sensations,” said Philecia La’Bounty, 36, who is battling stage four breast cancer for the second time. “Regardless of why Kim made this garment or what inspired it, there is a large community who are grieving the loss of their breasts and are thrilled to have this easy, affordable and painless way to get their nipples back.”
SKIMS isn’t the first to experiment with fake nipples. Victoria’s Secret released a nipple bra in the early 2000s. But while the new product builds on the trendy push to “free the nipple” and ditch bras altogether, it has been ridiculed online. Some people thought Kardashian’s promotional video released Monday was an “SNL” skit, while many others questioned the need for such a product.
However, the breast cancer community dominated the comments section with praise, emphasizing in conversations with USA TODAY that this bra could also serve as a gender-affirming product for trans and non-binary people.
The “Ultimate Nipple Bra” from SKIMS hit stores on October 31st.
A chance to feel like your pre-cancer self
In 2018, La’Bounty was given a 5% chance of survival after she was diagnosed at age 29 with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer that had spread to her lungs, breastbone and a lymph node in her armpit. She recovered for four and a half years until the cancer returned in March. La’Bounty had a double mastectomy in May, which resulted in her losing neither breast nor nipples.
Mastectomies involve removing all of the breast tissue from one or both breasts to treat or prevent breast cancer in women who are at high risk of developing it. Another option for some people is lumpectomies, in which the breast is saved only by removing the tumor. However, nipples can be lost or damaged during both procedures.
For some patients, breast reconstruction can be performed at the same time as the mastectomy, but in many cases, patients must wait several months to heal properly and complete the rest of their cancer treatment.
For those who want to have nipples back, there are few options. They may opt for nipple reconstruction several months after they have healed from the previous surgery, which is expensive and offers no guarantee of natural-looking results. Or they get tattooed to create the illusion of a nipple without the texture of a real nipple.
Nipple prostheses – silicone adhesives that adhere to the breast – are another option for people who have lost their nipples. However, many people who have used them say that some products move too much or are not realistic enough.
La’Bounty chose not to have her nipples reconstructed because she feared possible complications such as tissue injury, a difficult decision that she says she is still coming to terms with. Prostheses also don’t suit her well at this point in her breast cancer journey.
“I feel like I’m forcing myself to be someone I’m not anymore,” La’Bounty said. “Wearing prosthetics would set me back in my grieving process.”
However, a bra with built-in nipples is exactly what La’Bounty said could give her the confidence she felt in her pre-cancer body. When scans show she is cancer-free later this year, La’Bounty said she will schedule an appointment for breast reconstruction and add the SKIMS bra to her shopping wish list.
“I’m really excited to try on this bra and look like I did before the cancer forced me to remove my breasts,” she said. “I’m excited to see how it will make me feel and maybe I’ll put on a little outfit for my partner. I just want that ‘wow’ moment back.”
Having the freedom to choose
Before Victoria Price’s double mastectomy last April, doctors told her she could keep her nipples – a glimmer of hope for a 29-year-old single woman.
But the plan quickly changed when doctors realized how close the cancer in her milk ducts – a condition called ductal carcinoma in situ – was to her nipples. Because Price has the BRCA2 gene, which increases her risk of breast and ovarian cancer, she decided to have both breasts removed out of an abundance of caution.
According to the American Cancer Society, it’s a decision that more and more people are having to make as the number of new breast cancer cases increases. With the exception of skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States and accounts for about one-third of all new cancers in women annually.
Like La’Bounty, Price wasn’t ready for permanent nipples after her breast reconstruction. She made an appointment for a nipple tattoo but canceled it.
“I don’t think I’m ready to have a permanent nipple right now because there’s a lot of body dysmorphia that comes with it,” said Price, a professional actor in New York City. “But I like the fact that I can choose when I want the SKIMS bra.”
Having the freedom to decide when she has nipples also means giving back parts of Price’s life that cancer stole from her, such as her intimacy.
“I got in touch with my body and my sexuality in the years before my diagnosis. And as I got older, I really enjoyed not wearing a bra and having my nipples visible,” Price said. “The loss of all feeling in my breasts and the lack of nipples has affected my intimacy, which of course the bra can’t restore, but it could at least give me the confidence if I decide that’s what I’m going for.”
Working as an actress after a mastectomy also posed new challenges for Price, as she said she often had to make quick changes backstage with little privacy. The nipple bra could help alleviate insecurity about not having nipples in such cases, she said, or even take a sexy figure she could portray to the next level.
A missed opportunity?
Kardashian has received a lot of praise for designing accessible underwear, loungewear, and shapewear for people with different needs, which is why some in the breast cancer community found it strange that she didn’t see the potential in including these in marketing materials — especially when she launched this Product on the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“SKIMS does a good job of including diverse influencers, but I didn’t see a single person in the promos who had anything other than their original breasts, which is a huge missed opportunity, especially for a company that values inclusivity.” said Annie Bond, 34, who has been living with metastatic breast cancer for eight years. “The fact that they make a product that is revolutionary for us and then don’t include us in the conversation is just a disappointment.”
Advertising products like bras for people with breast cancer can be tricky because it could sexualize the disease, Bond said, but there’s a right way: “It shouldn’t feel like a Playboy spread,” she said. “We just want to see ourselves represented.”
An example of this is the company AnaOno. It sells underwear for people on their breast cancer journey or for those who have other needs for unique bra designs.
Bond was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer at age 26, which spread to her lymph nodes and liver. Although her nipples were spared after a lumpectomy, Bond said they were uneven, which is why the SKIMS nipple bra, which she considers “unique,” is uneven. “unique” might give it a more confident symmetry.
“When I wake up in the morning and see in the mirror that my nipples are uneven, it’s just a reminder of the trauma of my surgeries,” Bond said. “The ability to put on that bra… is a really powerful thing – and that shouldn’t be underestimated.”
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