The STILL Anthology: Stories + Images of Those Who Go Flat After Mastectomy

Four years ago, designer Lisa Taft Sylvester faced a high risk of developing breast cancer. To manage that risk, she chose a prophylactic mastectomy. When healthcare providers suggested implants to "put herself back together," Sylvester decided to go flat instead. This decision opened her eyes to a persistent stigma around going flat. Despite being a safe and healthy breast reconstruction option, Aesthetic Flat Closure [going flat after mastectomy] is not always offered to patients, performed well, or supported. Outdated medical studies and societal narratives around breasts and beauty contribute to this issue. On the healthcare side, this often means patients aren’t told that going flat is an option, are talked out of it, or are left disfigured by surgeons who disregard their clear wishes. Many endure multiple surgeries and complications as a result. Known as Flat Denial, this disregard of body autonomy adds layers of physical, emotional, and financial stress for breast cancer and high-risk patients—at a time when life is already challenging, if not downright frightening. Additionally, societal tropes tell women in particular that they cannot be themselves, feminine, whole, or happy without breasts. Given these challenges, Sylvester wondered how design could shift this narrative. She wondered how it would feel to see a book in a doctor’s office that shows beautiful, empowering flat women. How it would feel to see what flat might look like on someone your age, color, and body type. How it would feel to read their stories and identify with them because yours has similarities. And the hope and empowerment that would provide for breast cancer and high risk patients. Motivated by her experience and the stories of others, Sylvester founded STILL, an Interrobang Design project, to amplify the voices of women who choose to go flat and to spark a cultural shift. The Still Anthology is a 132-page book that powerfully illustrates the truth that women are more than breasts and that the potential to live whole, beautiful lives without boobs is more than possible—and can be profoundly beautiful. This thoughtfully designed book features diverse, raw, real, and unfiltered stories of twelve flatties [the term for those who go flat] paired with profoundly beautiful, dynamic, and compelling photos. Together, these stories and images deliver an uplifting and powerful message for those facing mastectomies and making reconstruction choices, their healthcare providers, and the public.