A bra with fake nipples could be a confidence-boosting option for breast cancer survivors.
When Kim Kardashian announced the upcoming launch of her shapewear label’s nipple push-up bra, the default reaction seemed to be either a collective groan or a knowing giggle.
“This was groundbreaking and I got emotional. I’ve been silently struggling with my body image since my diagnosis last year,” Craig says. “Through biopsies and chemotherapy, started to look different and now, after a double mastectomy, they are completely different – no feeling, no nipples ... I cried for days without telling anyone. It’s not about anyone seeing them, it’s psychological. The subconscious feeling that your nipples are there.
The life-saving procedure can have a significant impact on some people’s self-confidence and body image, says Krystal Barter, a“Every day I miss my breasts and my nipples and everything that it looked like,” Barter says. “ has the potential to be useful or powerful for some women who have found it to be a really difficult process to go through, which it is.
However, if a faux-nipple bra makes someone feel better about themselves, they should be able to wear it without judgement, Barter says. In turn, that shouldn’t diminish others’ attempts to dismantle societal norms around breasts and nipples – there should be room for both, she says. “Actual awareness around mastectomies would be more appreciated, or promoting more permanent solutions like 3D nipple-tattooing or transplants,” says metastatic breast cancer advocate, Katie-Marie Thorpe.