New York magazine has seen fit to put a topless, mutilated woman on the cover of its first-ever Men’s Style issue. Ellen Page, now known as Elliot Page, had healthy breasts surgically removed after identifying as transgender and is now one of four cover stars for the magazine’s ode to men’s fashion. Fair warning, you’re about to see the photos.

VIEWER WARNING – New York Magazine puts a topless woman who mutilated herself on its cover.

And yes, I had a reaction when I saw the photos. Not outrage. Not pearl-clutching. Something much more basic and instinctual. Looking at them made me physically sick.

Elliot Page for The Men’s Style Issue of New York Magazine

📸: Ryan McGinley pic.twitter.com/WjUZLVjYnQ

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 28, 2026

Men’s Style, Apparently

Page has talked about that body before. After having both breasts removed, Page called the surgery not only “life-changing” but “lifesaving.”

That word bothers me. Lifesaving.

We aren’t talking about removing a cancerous breast or operating on a failing organ. Page had healthy breasts removed because of distress over having a female body. And somehow we have reached the point where the result isn’t merely accepted, it gets photographed and put on the cover of a Men’s Style issue. Gross. This is malpractice disguised as treatment.

I’m supposed to look at those photos and see liberation. I don’t. I see a healthy female body that was permanently altered because the person living in it couldn’t stand parts of it.

And instead of asking whether maybe something has gone terribly wrong here, *New York* magazine brought in a photographer.

Transgender actress Elliot Page shares tips on being a ‘man’ as she appears shirtless in New York Magazine men’s style issue.

The actress has shown off the results of her breast removal while posing in a gay men’s bathhouse and discussing visiting men’s spas to show off her… pic.twitter.com/xX1OPSEJwf

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) September 29, 2026

And these surgeries don’t stop at removing healthy breasts. Some women undergo phalloplasty, where surgeons take a large flap of skin, fat, nerves and blood vessels from the forearm or thigh. They then roll it up into a tube shape and use that tissue to construct a male unit.

That’s graphic, I know. But people need to understand what these surgeries actually involve. It’s easy to make all of this sound clinical and tidy when you use medical terminology. Describing what actually happens is another matter entirely.

Where Are America’s Kellie-Jay Keens?

I’ve watched Kellie-Jay Keen for years. In fact, she was one of the first women who opened my eyes to what was actually happening with all of this. She is British, and the video below is about Britain’s National Health Service, but I’ve always appreciated that she refuses to pretty up what these surgeries actually involve.

Which brings me to something I’ve wondered for a long time: where are America’s Kellie-Jay Keens? Where are the women over here willing to be just as loud, just as blunt and just as unwilling to play along with the nice medical language?

Keen certainly doesn’t sugarcoat it.

But Page Is An Adult

And yes, Page is a grown adult who can make decisions about her own body. But this isn’t simply a private medical decision anymore. It’s being photographed, put on a magazine cover and celebrated.

So what message does that send to young people who are uncomfortable in their own bodies? Teenagers have always gone through awkward years, hated parts of themselves and wished they looked different. Are we really comfortable telling them that permanently altering a healthy body may be the answer?

I guess we can forget social media influencing them, we now have movie stars and celebrities to thank for this sickening message. And if celebrities aren’t enough, then we can rely on mainstream media outlets like New York magazine to help amplify the message. And it’s not the first time for New York Magazine, go look up the Gabriel Mac Essay.

Page can make an adult decision. The rest of us can question the medicine and the message.

*New York* magazine can call it Men’s Style. Page can call the surgery lifesaving. Everyone involved can celebrate it as progress.

I still see a woman who had healthy breasts removed, and no magazine cover is going to make me pretend otherwise.

Feature Image: AI-generated illustration/blurred