Why some women hate their breasts – a summary from detransitioned women’s stories

Detransitioned women describe breast-related distress as rooted in practical pain, sexual harassment, and early objectification, not in an innate gender identity.
• Physical burden: Large breasts cause back pain, limit exercise, and increase cancer risk.
• Sexual harassment: Constant groping, comments, and stares turn breasts into “assault magnets,” making some women wish them gone.
• Family and social sexualization: Early comments about bra size, periods, or “boyfriend potential” from relatives and strangers leave lasting shame.
• Media and male gaze: Breasts are reduced to male-centered sex objects, creating impossible standards and self-hatred.
• Trauma responses: Abuse by women can make victims reject all female markers, including breasts.

Several women who had mastectomies later regretted surgery, realizing their discomfort came from external sexualization and trauma, not from the breasts themselves. They encourage others to challenge society’s entitlement to critique or consume women’s bodies and to seek self-acceptance rather than removal.