Ericka Hart is an American academic, sex educator, and model. [1] [2] [3]
Ericka Hart is an American academic, sex educator, and model. [1] [2] [3]
Hart's mother died of breast cancer when Hart was 13, prompting her family to move from Maryland to Puerto Rico. [2] [4] She graduated from the University of Miami in 2008 with a degree in theater and psychology. [5] Hart has a Master’s of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University. [6] From 2008 to 2010, Hart served as a HIV/AIDS volunteer in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia. [7]
In May 2014, at age 28, Hart received a bilateral breast cancer diagnosis. [8] She did not have access to health insurance at the time and worked for a year and a half while doing chemotherapy. Hart had a double mastectomy in June 2014 and went back to work two weeks later. [9]
Hart went viral for attending Afropunk topless, showing scars from her double mastectomy. "We don’t go to the doctor because of historical trauma, institutionalized racism, so on and so forth. And we die faster because if you find cancer later on, your rates of survival are less." Hart explained, "I wore my chest out because I wanted to raise awareness, but I also...still feel really sexy with my body this way, and I want to be received as sexy, not just as a survivor." [10]
A former adjunct professor at the Columbia School of Social Work, Hart taught human sexuality. [11] [12] She has taught sexuality education to audiences ranging from elementary-aged youth to adults. [13] A difficult experience trying to learn about sex as a child inspired her to become an educator. She told Forbes , “I didn’t understand how I could ask questions about anything else, but when it came to sex it was just quiet, and people skated around the issue…I started to get that this has a lot to do with people’s discomfort and I just wanted to make people feel comfortable with asking about this topic.” [6] Hart was recognized on the Root100 in 2018 for her work as an "advocate for post-cancer body positivity". [14]
Hart told Forbes she was pushed out of her teaching job at Columbia because she expressed concern about a student who made rape jokes in class and was transphobic and racist towards Hart. When Hart brought her concerns to Dean Melissa Begg and Associate Dean Julian Teitler during the spring 2020 semester, she was told her contract as an adjunct professor for the fall would not be renewed. Over 1,300 people signed a petition circulated by a student group calling for the resignation of three deans involved in the case. Hart spoke out against Columbia’s lack of support for adjunct professors — a larger percentage of whom are Black or Latino than full-time faculty. Hart demanded the school release the demographic information for adjunct and full-time faculty. In response, Begg posted stats to the school’s website showing 18 percent of full-time staffers are Black or Latino, while 36 percent of adjunct faculty are Black or Latino. [15] [16] [17]
Hart has posed topless for Paper magazine, [18] Out magazine, [19] and on the runway of Chromat's Fall 2018 show at New York Fashion Week. [20] "Being a part of the QTPOC community, and seeing how little information is geared towards us [in the media], breast cancer is literally killing us and my hope is to inspire many people across a spectrum of gender identities," she told Vogue . "The societal assumption is that having a double mastectomy would somehow make my body abnormal, or that not having nipples must signal a descent into shame or discomfort around my body image, but my relationship with my body hasn't changed." [20]
Hart co-hosts the podcast, Hoodrat to Headwrap: A Decolonized Podcast. [21] [22] Women's Health wrote, "Hosts Ericka Hart and Ebony Donnley allow their listeners to take part in an intimate conversation, sprinkled with comedic relief, glowing personalities, and radical seeds of self love." [23]
In December 2022, Hinge hired Hart to offer advice on non-sexual forms of intimacy for asexual people. [24]
Hart identifies as queer and "nonbinary femme." [11] She uses she/her and they/them pronouns. [25] Hart is polyamorous. [26]
At age 29, Hart married Emily Humphrey, a 30-year-old health coach she first met while they were both serving in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia. [27] Hart and Humphrey divorced a year and a half later. [9]
Hart currently lives with her partner, Ebony Donnley, and their dog, Baguette X, in Brooklyn, NY. [28] Hart and Donnley met on Tinder. [29] Donnley is a writer, audio engineer, and Hart's manager. [28]
On February 14, 2023, Hart gave birth to their first child, East Francis Coltrane Hart-Donnley. [26]
Breast reconstruction is the surgical process of rebuilding the shape and look of a breast, most commonly in women who have had surgery to treat breast cancer. It involves using autologous tissue, prosthetic implants, or a combination of both with the goal of reconstructing a natural-looking breast. This process often also includes the rebuilding of the nipple and areola, known as nipple-areola complex (NAC) reconstruction, as one of the final stages.
Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation as a preventive measure. Alternatively, some women can choose to have a wide local excision, also known as a lumpectomy, an operation in which a small volume of breast tissue containing the tumor and a surrounding margin of healthy tissue is removed to conserve the breast. Both mastectomy and lumpectomy are referred to as "local therapies" for breast cancer, targeting the area of the tumor, as opposed to systemic therapies, such as chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or immunotherapy.
The nipple is a raised region of tissue on the surface of the breast from which, in females, milk leaves the breast through the lactiferous ducts to breastfeed an infant. The milk can flow through the nipple passively or it can be ejected by smooth muscle contractions that occur along with the ductal system. Male mammals also have nipples but without the same level of function, and often surrounded by body hair.
Mammaplasty refers to a group of surgical procedures, the goal of which is to reshape or otherwise modify the appearance of the breast. There are two main types of mammoplasty:
Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is known as barechestedness.
Chaunté Lowe is an American athlete who competes in the high jump. A four-time Olympian, she is the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2005 World Championship silver medalist and the 2012 World Indoor gold medalist. She initially finished sixth in the 2008 Olympic high jump final, but was promoted to the bronze medal in 2016 after three competitors were disqualified for doping. She is the American record holder in the women's high jump with an outdoor clearance of 2.05 m in 2010, and holds the indoor record with a clearance of 2.02 m in 2012.
The U.S. Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act, also known as Janet's Law, signed into law on October 21, 1998 as part of the 1999 omnibus bill, contains protections for patients who elect breast reconstruction in connection with a mastectomy. This law, which is administered by the Department of Labor and Health and Human Services, states that group health plans, insurance companies, and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) must provide coverage for reconstructive surgery after mastectomy for breast cancer and prohibited "drive-through" mastectomies, where breast cancer patient's hospital stays were limited by their carriers. The required coverage includes all stages of reconstruction of the breast on which the mastectomy was performed, surgery and reconstruction of the other breast to produce a symmetrical appearance, prostheses, and treatment of physical complications of the mastectomy, including lymphedema.
Diana Moran BEM is an English model, fitness expert and journalist. In the 1960s and 1970s, Moran was a print and catwalk model. She also appeared as a TV announcer and newsreader for HTV West.
Breast prostheses are breast forms intended to look like breasts. They are often used temporarily or permanently by women after mastectomy or lumpectomy procedures, but may also be used by for aesthetic purposes. There are a number of materials and designs; although, the most common construction is gel in a plastic film meant to feel similar to a person's skin. Prostheses may be purchased at a surgical supply store, pharmacy, custom lingerie shop, or even through private services that come to a person's home. There are many types of ready made breast prostheses including full or standard prostheses, partial prostheses such as shell prostheses, and stick on prostheses. Customized options are also available from specialty shops, which are moulded to fit an individual's chest by taking an impression of the breast(s). The areola and nipple may be replicated as part of the breast form or as separate nipple prosthesis. Both custom made and off-the shelf breast prostheses come in varieties that are designed to either be held in a pocket in a specially designed mastectomy bra or attached to the skin via adhesive or other methods and worn with a standard bra. There are many factors to consider when selecting breast prostheses such as different types and the care they require, insurance coverage, and psychosocial effects.
Jennifer Griffin is an American journalist who works as Chief national security correspondent at the Pentagon for Fox News. She joined Fox News in October 1999 as a Jerusalem-based correspondent. Prior to the posting, she reported for three years from Moscow for Fox News.
The Cancer Journals is a 1980 book of non-fiction by Audre Lorde. It deals with her struggle with breast cancer.
In Canada, topfreedom has primarily been an attempt to combat the interpretation of indecency laws that considered a woman's breasts to be indecent, and therefore their exhibition in public an offence. In British Columbia, it is a historical issue dating back to the 1930s and the public protests against the materialistic lifestyle held by the radical religious sect of the Freedomites, whose pacifist beliefs led to their exodus from Russia to Canada at the end of the 19th century. The Svobodniki became famous for their public nudity: primarily for their nude marches in public and the acts of arson committed also in the nude.
Narcissister is an American, Brooklyn-based, feminist performance artist, born of Moroccan Jewish and African-American descent. Narcissister's work tends to focus on race, gender, and sexuality, using her slight anonymity to explore such topics controversially. In February 2013, she headlined her first solo gallery. She was a contestant on America's Got Talent in 2011. The Huffington Post declared her the "topless feminist superhero of New York". She prefers her identity remain secret.
Free the Nipple is a topfreedom campaign created in 2012 during pre-production of a 2014 film of the same name. The campaign highlights the general convention of allowing men to appear topless in public while considering it sexual or indecent for women to do the same and asserts that this difference is discriminatory, contravening women's rights. The campaign argues that it should be legally and culturally acceptable for women to bare their nipples in public.
Eleanor D. Montague was an American radiologist and educator who established breast-conserving therapy in the United States and improved radiation therapy techniques. She became a member of the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.
Paulette Leaphart is an American woman who gained national attention through her self-advocacy as a breast cancer survivor and 1,000 mile walk for awareness.
In Western society, since the 1960s, there has been a slow but steady trend towards bralessness among a number of women, especially millennials, who have expressed opposition to and are giving up wearing bras. In 2016, Allure magazine fashion director Rachael Wang wrote, "Going braless is as old as feminism, but it seems to be bubbling to the surface more recently as a direct response to Third Wave moments like #freethenipple hashtag campaign, increased trans-visibility like Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair cover ... and Lena Dunham's show Girls."
Alejandra Campoverdi is an American women’s health advocate, best-selling author, and former White House aide. Under President Barack Obama, Campoverdi was the first White House Deputy Director of Hispanic Media.
Matuschka, is an American–Ukrainian photographer, artist, author, activist, and model. Her self-portrait on the Sunday cover of New York Times magazine in 1993 was chosen by LIFE for a special edition entitled 100 Photographs that Changed the World published in 2003 and again in 2011. The artist has been nominated for many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, and has received dozens of citations, honors, and distinctions for her photographic works, and activism since the early 1990s. In 2012 Matuschka appeared in Rose Hartman's book Incomparable Women of Style, and in 2011 John Loengard included her in his monograph: The Age of Silver: Encounters with Great Photographers.
In the United States, individual states have primary jurisdiction in matters of public morality. The topfreedom movement has claimed success in a few instances in persuading some state and federal courts to overturn some state laws on the basis of sex discrimination or equal protection, arguing that a woman should be free to expose her chest in any context in which a man can expose his. Other successful cases have been on the basis of freedom of expression in protest, or simply that exposure of breasts is not indecent.