Alisha had contacted me a few months ago asking me to help her capture the feelings of her impending breast reduction, and on July 31st she came up with her friend Sarah and they stayed at my apartment. Alisha had brought a suitcase of clothes in which she was excited to finally wear, pointing every item of clothing out and telling me about how vivid she remembers the last time she wore each piece.
When I asked her to tell me her feelings on her breast reduction she sent me some notes organized by 6 separate feelings.
Excitement
Hope
Guilt
Grateful
Fear
Confused
She wrote about the excitement of jumping up and down on a trampoline and the possibilities of no longer being as sexualized for wearing the very same shirts and dresses she had laid out before, she wrote of guilt and the gratefulness about the privilege of a breast reduction, and the fear and confusion from the impact on her body as well as the impact on those around her.