Desexualizing a cartoon = making her flat, men are mad
https://www.newsweek.com/lola-bunnys-desexualized-...
I've been seeing posts of this picture around, then in comment sections men are so mad about this change, and complaining about how bad this CARTOON ANIMAL (from Space Jam) looks. But it also makes me upset or depressed on some level, because it reiterates how other people view being flat chested as flawed/ruined/unappealing. One comment I saw even said "I guess she's a lesbian now" - as if not making your parts burst out of your clothes for men = gay?
I was not a typical woman to begin with, I don't wear makeup or dress very feminine but am absolutely and inflexibly heterosexual... getting breast cancer in my 30s felt like a nail in the coffin to being alone the rest of my life. Now, I'm turning 39 this year, the 2nd half of my 30s basically ruined. Now I'm "old" breastless, still poor. Men can choose virtually anyone else and get someone who will look pretty for them, be cheerful, have breasts. That seems to be all that matters to them. The more time that passes the farther I get from being a lighthearted, childlike plaything for them.
I don't regret being flat because fake breasts are still massively unappealing, and I certainly don't want them or to have anything foreign hanging off of my body --- But being in the world like this and having to deal with other people is harder than I expected. Strangely, it was easy at first but has gotten more difficult over time. Due to the pandemic I lost work, had to get a retail job and customers/coworkers looked down at my chest more in the first 6 months of that job than my entire 3 years of being flat chested. To be flat post-breast cancer is to be in an extreme minority that nobody thinks about or cares about how we might feel. Many people do not even realize we exist. Even female doctors have stupid things to stay about being flat. Even radiologists who regularly do breast imaging - WTF!
Now with more and more people being trans and getting top surgery, people make jokes like a flat person (or this cartoon) must have gotten top surgery. I swear, top surgery for people who choose to remove their breasts has become normalized SOONER than breast cancer survivors that have had mastectomies without reconstruction. That is sad, alienating, and bizarre to me. And this is in a country that prides itself on "breast cancer awareness!" I hate it here.
Comments
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oh my girl, you are singing a song I angry belt out almost every day on twitter lol. I'm not flat but I so GET what you're saying about the sexual politics of women's breasts. I've been lactation consultant for almost 20 yrs. Breasts and their role in our society are a huge issue for me.
women deserve better than this
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Lola looks 100 times more awesome in the new version.
Hey, how about a cartoon or program character with a uniboob or lopsidedness, and no explanation, just present it as a normal thing?
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Blah333 - to see how elegant flat chested women can look in clothes, check out Poetry.com. These clothes are expensive but I love the way the models look. I hope you do too. Polly
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