Ericka Hart is an American sex educator, model, and professor.

Background

After being diagnosed with bilateral

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

in May 2014 at the age of 28, Hart went viral for attending

Afropunk Afro-punk (sometimes spelled Afro-Punk, Afropunk or AfroPunk) refers to the participation of African Americans and other Black people in punk and alternative subcultures, especially in the United States. History The term originated from the 20 ...

topless, showing scars from her double

mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operat ...

. "We don’t go to the doctor because of historical trauma, institutionalized racism, so on and so forth. And we die faster because if you find cancer later on, your rates of survival are less." Hart explained, "I wore my chest out because I wanted to raise awareness, but I also...still feel really sexy with my body this way, and I want to be received as sexy, not just as a survivor." Since then, Hart has posted topless for ''Paper'' magazine, ''

Out Out may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 * ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander * ''Out'' (2002 film), a Japanese film ba ...

'' magazine, and on the runway of Chromat's Fall 2018 show at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

. "Being a part of the QTPOC community, and seeing how little information is geared towards us

n the media N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

breast cancer is literally killing us and my hope is to inspire many people across a spectrum of gender identities," she told ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''. "The societal assumption is that having a double mastectomy would somehow make my body abnormal, or that not having nipples must signal a descent into shame or discomfort around my body image, but my relationship with my body hasn't changed." Hart graduated from the University of Miami Coral Gables in 2008 with a degree in theater and psychology. Hart has a Master’s of Education in Human Sexuality from

Widener University Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania. The university has three other campuses: two in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg and Exton, Pennsylvania, Exton) and one in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded as Th ...

. From 2008-2010, Hart served as a HIV/AIDS volunteer in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...

in Ethiopia.

Career

A former adjunct professor at the Columbia School of Social Work, Hart taught human sexuality. She has taught sexuality education to audiences ranging from elementary-aged youth to adults. A difficult experience trying to learn about sex as a child inspired her to become an educator. She told ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'', “I didn’t understand how I could ask questions about anything else, but when it came to sex it was just quiet, and people skated around the issue…I started to get that this has a lot to do with people’s discomfort and I just wanted to make people feel comfortable with asking about this topic.” Hart was recognized on the Root100 in 2018 for her work as an "advocate for post-cancer body positivity". Hart co-hosts the

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

, ''Hoodrat to Headwrap: A Decolonized Podcast''. ''Women's Health'' wrote, "Hosts Ericka Hart and Ebony Donnley allow their listeners to take part in an intimate conversation, sprinkled with comedic relief, glowing personalities, and radical seeds of self love."

Personal life

Hart identifies as queer and "

nonbinary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

femme." She uses she/her and

they/them Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'' and ''themselves'' (or ''themself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun. It typically occurs with an unspecified antecedent, in sentences ...

pronouns. Hart currently lives with her partner, Ebony Donnley, and their dog, Baguette X, in

Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behin ...

. Donnley is a writer, audio engineer, and Hart's manager. Hart's mother passed away from breast cancer when she was 13.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Ericka Non-binary models Non-binary artists Living people American models American LGBT writers Sex education advocates Year of birth missing (living people)