I suspect from your comment it's been a while since you've been in an airport.
I fly a lot and have seen a lot in these checkpoints. They *do* touch skin.
Just yesterday I heard a young TSA agent complaining loudly about anybody opting out of the scan. She made it clear that anybody who opts out wouldn't get through the pat-down in time to board their plane. She said, loudly, since she couldn't travel for Thanksgiving anybody opting out won't get to travel. Nice, huh. Terminal B, Logan Airport.
“Just yesterday I heard a young TSA agent complaining loudly about anybody opting out of the scan. She made it clear that anybody who opts out wouldn’t get through the pat-down in time to board their plane. She said, loudly, since she couldn’t travel for Thanksgiving anybody opting out won’t get to travel. Nice, huh. Terminal B, Logan Airport.”
Did you register a complaint with her supervisor?