Recent discourses within breast cancer and gendered studies literature suggest some women are challenging postmastectomy bodies as abject bodies. Tattooing is an emerging body project in contemporary society that can offer women who live disembodied from their postmastectomized body an alternative. We consider embodied health movements, a type of social movement, to explore how acquiring meaningful tattoo art over a mastectomized site can been seen as challenging hegemonic, gendered discourses of the female breast and patriarchal ideals of beauty, post mastectomy. As part of emancipatory practices, tattooed bodies have historically been used to challenge dominant discourses related to identity and is currently evolving into practices of self‐expression, healing, and transformation. As an emerging phenomenon among women, it is important for nurses to understand the prevalence and role of tattoos more broadly, and the possible means for women to embody healing and transformation post mastectomy.

Background: It could be argued that mastectomy tattoos are being considered by some women in contemporary society as an alternative to breast reconstruction.Aim: To gain insight into the experience of "being" tattooed where breast(s) once occupied space, six women with mastectomy tattoos were interviewed.Methodology: The teachings of Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics were engaged to better understand what it means "to be" tattooed postmastectomy.Results and Discussion: Discoveries include feeling sad and damaged postmastectomy, embodying the tattoo as a novel representation of self for women living without breast(s), and reclaiming power, control, and confidence in a way that is symbolically meaningful. Conclusion:Health care providers working with women diagnosed with breast cancer are invited to learn from women with mastectomy tattoos and to consider expanding discourse about care to include options beyond breast reconstruction.