In the heart of Trinity Street, Circle of Swords, a tattoo studio, is stepping up to host a vital fundraising event for the Mastectomy Tattooing Alliance (MTA). The MTA is renowned for its incredible work, offering areola tattoos to women undergoing challenging breast cancer treatments. Despite their noble intentions, Circle of Swords faces an uphill battle in promoting this charity event due to the puzzling removal of their images from social media platforms, deemed “inappropriate.”
Affectionately known as Loz, Lawrence Phillips co-owns the studio with his wife, Katie Phillips. Their primary goal is to generate significant support for the MTA Flash Day scheduled for Sunday, October 29. However, the social media ban has become a considerable roadblock to their efforts.
“It is incredibly frustrating as it is tough to explain what nipple tattooing is without showing it,” Loz Phillips lamented. The core of this charitable endeavor is tattooing nipples and various designs to help women regain a sense of normalcy after their challenging cancer journey.
Loz continued, “Due to a whole issue with female nipples, we cannot properly promote it on social media. When my wife has been posting about the event, she has been using some of the promo material from the charity, which features tattooed nipples, and the images keep getting flagged as inappropriate.”
On the event day, people can walk in and choose a design from the flash sheet before getting inked, with all proceeds generously contributed to the MTA.
Despite these hurdles, Loz Phillips passionately praised the incredible work of the Mastectomy Tattooing Alliance, emphasizing the importance of their mission. He explained, “The most annoying thing is we do not often promote our work that much, but as this is a charity event, we want to promote it, but it cannot be done. It is a shame because it is a great cause; it is tattoo-related, and we are also friends with the organizers.”
The Mastectomy Tattooing Alliance, founded by Tanya Buxton in 2021, stands as a beacon of hope and support for breast cancer survivors on their journey to reclaim their bodies after mastectomy surgeries. They provide “life-changing and empowering” areola-nipple and mastectomy tattoos, helping people regain their body and confidence after undergoing challenging surgery.
In the face of the perplexing removal of their images from social media, the charity initiated the “Celebrated Not Censored” campaign. This campaign sheds light on the issue of social media platforms continually removing their images, citing violations of community guidelines on sexual and nudity activity. The MTA contends that this attitude towards the female body is outdated and sexist, hindering a profoundly positive service from reaching survivors.
The Circle of Swords charity event is a ray of hope for breast cancer survivors. It will be held on Sunday, October 29, and is open to all, requiring no prior booking.
For more information about the Mastectomy Tattooing Alliance and their remarkable work, please visit their website at https://www.mastectomytattooingalliance.org/about-mastectomy-tattooing-alliance/.