(PNM-26) At war with the scalpel: the explanted breast and the disruption of hegemonic erotic aesthetics on Instagram

Abstract This article proposes an analysis of images of explanted breasts posted by women on Instagram, focusing on their disruptive potential in relation to hegemonic visualities of the female body. Drawing on the notion of the “dysphoric breast,” articulated with the concepts of pharmacopornography (Preciado) and rhizome (Deleuze and Guattari), it examines how the exposure of these scars generates fissures in the erotic and sexualized logic that shapes the visual imagination of the breast. Rather than being concealed, the scar is performed as an aesthetic, political, and autobiographical enunciation, challenging the codes of beauty, eroticism, and visibility that operate within digital platforms. Through a cartographic analysis of Instagram posts, it is observed that these images create new modes of appearance, reclaim new narratives for the female body, and operate as micro-visual activisms confronting the normative consumption of the breast-body. Thus, the explanted breast not only displaces the gaze but also reinscribes potentials of existence beyond the traditional visual frame. Financing Bolsa Capes PDSE.