Harriet, 46

“I feel very positively towards my boobs and absolutely love them. They’ve always been an important part of who I am and I’ve never felt the need to keep them hidden or felt ashamed of them, even if they did get me some unwanted attention at times from men – something all women have experienced for one part of their body or another at times.

“I’ve always loved wearing beautiful supportive bras and taking care of my boobs as best I can. It was a very sad and challenging time in 2018 when I had an early-stage breast cancer diagnosis and had to have a mastectomy to take all of the unhealthy cells out. There was a lot of grief with releasing all of the tissue inside that breast as well as the nipple. This was partly to do with the actual loss and partly to do with letting go of the idea of ever being able to breastfeed again. Both of my kids were partly breastfed from newborns for several months, and it was something that made me love my boobs even more, being able to nurture and nourish them in that way. When I had the cancer diagnosis that was one of my first thoughts: that I was losing the boob that had always made the most milk, and how would I ever nourish a newborn again – never mind that I didn’t seriously want any more kids.

“To start with after the surgery, which included having tummy fat used to replace the tissue that was taken out, it felt distressing to see a breast without a nipple, to see the scars, and the texture was a bit different too and I’d lost all skin sensation. It took me a while to reach a place of acceptance and love for my new boob. The thing that made the biggest difference was having a beautiful tattoo done to cover all the scars; it was a huge moment of reclamation. Here I am now in my later 40s, more appreciative of my boobs than ever. I wish that boobs in general weren’t objectified the way they are in the media, so that women could appreciate their bodies without being sexualised. Boobs are amazing and an amazing part of being a woman.”

How do women actually feel about their boobs?