I feel like right after top surgery, everything was about trying to minimize and fade your scars. It was all I heard about. Personally, I don’t feel the need to make them fade. I like mine, as they remind me of who I am, and how I fought to make this body feel like home. I was even excited to show mine off. Only hearing people talk about how to get rid of theirs made me feel wrong for feeling this way.

Not everyone has to embrace them, and it’s perfectly valid to want them to fade. Sometimes scars can be dysphoria inducing. It’s also completely fine to simply not like how they look on yourself. Sometimes people want to pass, or not have anyone know they’re trans.

But I feel like there’s this idea that we’re inherently supposed to be ashamed of our scars. Personally, I’m sick of society telling us that we should feel shame for our identity, and I hate when that’s the motivator behind hiding them. I wish it were more acceptable to love them, to care for them but not worry about them fading, and to show them off for those of us who chose.