No Boobs, No Problem: Flat Representation in Pop Culture

For years, women have been told through popular culture messages that their worth resided somewhere between a Victoria's Secret catalog and the latest push-up bra technology. From Marilyn Monroe to Pamela Anderson, having a “bombshell” figure and voluptuous breasts has been considered the feminine ideal for a majority of the 20st century. But do boobs make a woman feminine?

Pamela Anderson

 

When a breast cancer survivor goes flat after a mastectomy, whether by choice or by necessity, she is thrown into a world that is incongruent with decades of pop culture programming. The old narrative states that a flat chest is boyish, unfeminine, and incomplete. If a woman didn’t have breasts, or breasts that were “big enough,” she needed to seek breast augmentation to appear more attractive and womanly. Small breasts, or no breasts, were not “desirable.” However, nobody benefits from women believing they need to be “fixed” if they don’t have breasts, especially breast cancer survivors.

Today, something powerful is happening. Women are steadily rejecting the old stereotypes reinforced in movies, TV shows, and magazines. Roughly 75 percent of mastectomy patients opted out of breast reconstruction in recent years, according to a 2021 study. Although not a flattie (someone who has gone flat after a mastectomy), even Pamela has had a breast reduction and has spoken about her newfound confidence in her natural appearance. Big boobs are officially out.

Kathy Bates

Recently, flat representation has been present in full force. Breast cancer survivor Kathy Bates refused to wear her breast prosthetics to the 2025 Emmy Awards, donning a formal gown with grace and glamour. She also performed without prosthetics on Lip Sync Battle. Former Victoria’s Secret model Christine Handy has graced runways, modeling how clothing fits flat chests. In 2014, well-known comedienne Tig Notaro first performed an entire stand-up set topless following her double mastectomy. Famous breast cancer survivors are confidently owning their scars publicly.

When famous flatties confidently and shamelessly present without breast prosthetics, “normal” people—both women and men alike—receive the new message that being flat is an acceptable way to be. The stereotype that “big breasts equal attractiveness” begins to shift. Women don’t feel so alone through an unmooring and challenging experience. They see themselves in others and see that being boobless is just as beautiful as having boobs. Representation matters, and flat representation matters. Boobs do not make a woman more of a woman. Body parts, or the lack of them, do not make us who we are.

Like Kathy, Tig, and my beautiful friend Christine, I am a flattie. When I walked topless in my first breast cancer awareness walk following my double mastectomy, people told me I was brave. Likewise, Tig Notaro was called “the bravest woman in comedy” for performing topless. While walking, I didn’t think I was brave. I was just walking. I wanted to show that flat is not shameful. It’s beautiful. Flat is attractive. Flat is feminine. Why is opting to go flat still seen as a radical choice and framed as bravery? And how long will breast-centered beauty standards continue to influence pop culture?

Tig Notaro