(New York Times) – Breast reduction is all the rage in cosmetic surgery. Are women asserting their independence or capitulating to yet another impossible standard of beauty?

The women walk into the surgeons’ offices with photos cued up on their phones. Miley Cyrus. Keira Knightley. Bella Hadid. I want my breasts to look like this, they say. They’ve already spent hours on YouTube watching plastic surgeons’ infomercials, on Instagram poring over before-and-afters, and on TikTok, where an army of ordinary women post about their breast reductions. “Ask me,” they say. Whether their nipple sensation has changed. What their boyfriends said. Whether they cared.

Sometimes a woman walks into her initial consultation with the bralette she hopes to wear. (Read More)