“Teta & Teta” is a community that claims women’s freedom through creativity and activism. Founded by Maria, designer and copywriter, “Teta & Teta” is a non-profit association, which aims to desexualize the female universe.
“I started working in a creative agency, Contrapunto, and then I founded Molaría, a creative studio launched in September 2007,” says Maria. “There, I work as a creative director, I am a copywriter, I produce ideas and concepts, also dealing with accounting”.
“Teta & Teta”, instead, was born in March 2013. “Conceived as a creative co-working, I created it because my old partner, the art director with whom I founded Molaría, moved to Switzerland,” tells Maria. “Teta” literally means “breast”. “One day I painted two breasts on a shirt, almost for fun. I posted it on Instagram and received messages from many girls who wanted it,” says Maria. Thus begins the social mission of the brand, that is to support the “free the nipple” movement, started in 2013 by the American activist Lina Esco. Esco’s goal is for her movement to support women’s freedom to walk around bare-chested without being judged and to free society from censorship of this part of the female body.
The initiatives of “Teta & Teta”
First of the association’s initiatives is “Breastfeeding Welcome Here”, created in 2017 in order to normalize breastfeeding in public. The initiative’s website features a constantly updated map of places around the world where breastfeeding is welcome.
“With this initiative to support mothers who need to breastfeed on the street away from noise, pollution, weather, modesty or judgment, we want to accelerate the normalization of breastfeeding in public. Seeing a nursing mother must become as normal as seeing. an elderly couple walking hand in hand, “explains Maria. On the website it is possible to report businesses where you can breastfeed and who would be interested in participating in the initiative.
In 2018, “Teta & Teta” launches “A las olvidadas”. “This initiative started with a question: what book would you give to a woman who is in prison?” Says Maria. Books to remove them from their reality, but also to generate reflection and debate around a collective invisible to society and discriminated by the prison system.
According to a research by “Acopa”, only 9% of the prison population is made up of women. Of the 69 Spanish prisons, only 4 are female: Brieva (Ávila), Alcalá Meco (Madrid), Alcalá de Guadaira (Seville) and Wad-Ras (Barcelona). Prison centers that also have women’s sections often do not meet their basic needs.
According to a study, 88.41% of women entering prison have experienced sexist violence. There is a direct relationship between abuse, psychological consequences and a criminal record. The post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by abused women includes depression, drug addiction, self-harm, aggression.
Anyone can participate in the “A las olvidadas” initiative by contacting the association and sending books of any kind (essays, biographies, fiction) and in any language (because women of different nationalities are detained in prisons), as long as they are all dedicated.
“The dedications are the essence of the initiative. They are a hug, the demonstration that someone has thought of these women. The prison dehumanizes people a lot and the dedications somehow give back something of that humanity. If out here they help to reflect , there they comfort “, tells Maria. So far 6,690 books have been received, of which 5,970 have reached seven prisons, and a documentary on the subject is also being produced. Recently “A las olvidadas” has also been active in Mexico, France and Colombia.
The single cup bra
The latest initiative dates back to 2019. It is about Lola: a bra for women who have undergone a mastectomy. Lola was born thanks to the collaboration of several people, including the sustainable brand “Aniela Parys”, the “Anna Bonny” brand, which produces single-cup bras and mastectomy plasters; and the “School of Feminism”, a platform aimed at spreading the feminist movement.
An integral part of this project is to give voice to the direct experiences of cancer patients, to normalize their bodies, so that they are seen as bodies that have suffered and won a battle, whose scars convey the will to live.
In 2020 “Teta & Teta” publicly challenged “Mango” to make the Lola project a line. So, this year, “Mango” has launched a capsule collection consisting of three bras, two swimsuits and a bikini, with a versatile design that allows you to adapt the garments to both women with only one breast and women with prostheses, celebrating diversity.
Sizes range from XXS to XXXL, for all bodies and ages. The prices are affordable and all the proceeds are donated to “Teta & Teta”, for assistance and help to all women who have undergone a mastectomy.
Today “Teta & Teta” has an online shop and produces in Spain t-shirts, shopping bags, sweatshirts, pants and underwear that all want to convey the same message: women must feel free to live their bodies as they wish. The association also has an active social media community.
