Costa using Pride image of girl with breasts removed to support trans?

[Tryingmuchharder]

"Costa Coffee was today accused of glamourising 'complex and dangerous surgery' by covering a van with a cartoon image featuring mastectomy scars.
The UK's largest coffee chain defended its use of the image to promote 'inclusivity and diversity' but was branded 'crass and irresponsible' and 'absolutely bonkers' – and there were calls for a boycott of the company on social media.
The image, depicting an androgynous-looking character wearing long shorts with scars below each nipple, is taken from a mural designed by the chain for Brighton and Hove Pride last year."

I find the attempt to 'normalise' the removal of perfectly healthy breasts because someone feels more masculine is wrong. AIBU

So good to see this on AIBU instead of being shunted off to FWR.
Costa v v quiet in my town this morning.

But how reasonable is it to have surgery on your healthy body that leaves it permanently scarred, not only the mastectomy scars but trans men who have phalloplasty have horrendous visible scarring on their arms, but also to take powerful drugs that even if you stop taking them give you an early menopause, permanent facial hair, osteoporosis, and such fragile dry vaginal skin that it tears when touched?

These are the true costs of saying to vulnerable, confused, autistic young women hey, look how cool this is, become your true self, just like this cartoon person on a coffee cup, everything will be sunshine and days on the beach and you will be happy if you cut off healthy bits of your body you don’t like.

Normalising drastic and irreversible procedures that damage your body and don’t actually achieve the outcome you desire is not the way to deal with mental health issues, which for many trans questioning young women is what this is.

Do you think that these treatments should be provided free on the NHS then?

Making this seem as nice as rainbows is a big part of the problem

Stop with euphemisms talk about mutilation, no carbons, no quaint indoctrinating books or videos aimed at dc, and also stop compelling pronouns and allowing access to single sex spaces

If all that is done it would reflect the reality

I've read three accounts from breast cancer survivors this morning, all saying the same. Plus one from a husband who was furious at how much it had upset his whole family.

I'm really sorry.

I've never been in a Costa, or drunk Costa coffee because it's shit coffee.
This sickening story has just strengthened my resolve never to set foot in one, nor add to their profits.

Where is the ethics of having a medical professional remove healthy tissue and perform extreme body modifications, or to provide cross sex hormones for healthy bodies, thus creating life long medical patients?

I understand what you are saying about adults having a choice, but are you completely comfortable with surgeons and doctors creating life long medical patients with physical debilitations because of mental health or life style? And I say life style because I have seen enough young adults and older teens who have started to tell the world that they are 'choosing' this as a lifestyle. I am using their own arguments in saying this.

Men do not walk around posing with double mastectomy scars. Ethics aside, all I see from these images are damaged females. It is literally announcing that you're not male. Like all of this ideology, it doesn't even make sense.

No Arabella is a familiar poster to me. She is most definitely not a supporter of these child abusers.

Hmm not sure why I was deleted ill try again.

If some one believes that they are something that is biologically not possible how can they be considered informed amd competent to make a medical decision. If we would not tell an.anorexic they are fat. Why would we tell a male they are a woman? How's it different?

So does everyone who objects also against a breast reduction which is going to help the person's mental health? Or is a breast reduction only allowed to a certain cup size? Reduction to a B is fine but an AAA is wrong?

Shame on Costa.
Hitching their star to a wagon which mutiliates healthy people for profit.
Shame on them.

No the NHS should definitely not be funding this and neither should private health insurers in the USA.

Haven't RTFT but feel a bit queasy after reading this. I can only imagine how distressing it must be for mastectomy survivors. Funking hell what world are we living in.

This trend of surgery is very lucrative for some though isn't it?

There has been no peer reviewed study that has shown that the long term mental health of these patients are improved. So, considering the current cohort of young transitioners have overwhelmingly been shown to have poor mental health that is often associated with comorbidities which incidentally include anorexia and severe depression, why do you advocate that these patients should not receive a high level of care to address the comorbity rather than 'gender affirming' drugs and surgeries?

Because that has also been shown to be happening. That is why the UK GIDS is being closed and regional centres opened to give more wholistic care, not just following a now heavily questioned 'affirming only' route.

You are saying that as soon as they reach 18, they are 'informed' adults. When it has become very clear that they are not 'informed' properly at all. They are not getting the appropriate information and are making decisions based off misinformation. Usually misinformation they have been given as children. Such as seeing images such as this that glamourises brutal double mastectomies.

How disgusting to aspire to this. When I think of the women I know who had single and double mascetomies to escape cancer, only to succumb to it! Sickening!

I'm sorry, I must have had my sarcasm dial set too high!

For the record - I think Dr Helen Webberley should be in prison.

Does a breast reduction leave a woman without a full range of movement? Does a breast reduction leave a woman with scars that are like tight bands and constantly itch and are painful?
Are breast reductions celebrated the way these double mastectomies have been recently?

I think it seems to be a determined use of false equivalence to compare double mastectomies to breast reductions.

The suggestion from Costa and Dr Webberly is that people should surgically remove body parts to address dysphoria.

Which is precisely 'drastic surgery for people with body dysphoria'.

But a breast reduction is done primarily because of a medical need, to reduce crippling back pain and physical restrictions on movement. It might well improve someone’s mental health by removing those restrictions on a healthy lifestyle, but the motivation is medical need.

It is not performed to validate a lie. Or to fulfil unrealistic desires.

indeed. especially given that in the Cass report it was shown that there was very little to no follow up reporting on anyone who passed through their services

Aye, and it's not that easy to obtain on the NHS.

I feel sick seeing this depicted as a 'fun' lifestyle choice. A family member had a double mastectomy. She got cancer not once but twice and had first one and then the other breast removed in order to save her life. It didn't work. She died in her fifties after living for years with pain and scarring.
It is utterly appalling that Costa think that cartoons of mastectomy scars is an acceptable way to sell coffee.

I believe that if done with a skilled surgeon, a breast reduction patient can still breast feed. A double mastectomy patient cannot. And we know from their own words that this is something they can regret later on.