Meet Tina From Canada-A Model and Survivor!

I am a model. I am also 64 years old, almost bald and breastless. Yet, here I am gracing the home page of amazing designer Lola Faturoti. I am stopped dead in my tracks at the sight. How did I get here? When she contacted me to see if I was interested in being part of her brand the first words out of my mouth were “I am flat”. The first words out of hers were “who cares”?

Let’s back up…I am a two time breast cancer survivor who in 2019, after years of testing, scanning and monitoring finally made the decision, with the complete approval of my oncologist, to remove both breasts. What came as a surprise to him was that I did not want reconstruction. I did investigate it but I was horrified at the thought of any more surgery. My body needed to heal and implants were not the route for me.

But here I was, in my drastically altered body trying to negotiate a breast and hair obsessed society. For all of the talk about inclusion and diversity we have a long way to go. I started an Instagram account @not_in_the_pink_ that dealt with dressing a “flat” body. My only thought was if I could help one woman feel good about herself then I had accomplished what I set out to. And in the process I helped myself immensely.

When I was contemplating the surgery I found very few images of flat women readily available until I joined several private FaceBook groups. On those sites I found incredible confident women rocking flat bodies of all sizes and shapes. Two years later, largely due to the untiring advocacy of many women across the world, those images are much more accessible. We must become visible to each other or we can never change the narrative around breast cancer. Flat is an acceptable and often much healthier route to recovery.

Stepping off my soap box I freely admit that today my heart is full and seeing my image on this website was more than a little overwhelming. Here I am with all the “normal” people. Normalize flat. Normalize acceptance. Normalize normal bodies.

I repeat. I am 64. Almost bald. Breastless.

I am a model.

Link for Lola Faturoti: https://lolafaturotiloves.com

Instagram: not_in_the_pink_