Bras

[Molasses]

Inspired by the high heels thread: bras. Why do women with less than a D cup bother? I read a comment about nipples poking out and needing to hide them. Doesn't sound particularly liberating.

[inmysparetime]

Breast tissue needs support. I needed a bra when I was less than a D cup (long time ago now), just to keep them supported as I e.g. run up stairs.

[Molasses]

But women in many cultures (and all other primates - imagine apes in bras) don't seem to need this support. And we haven't always had bras have we? Weren't they invented by men?

[Molasses]

Wiki not particularly reliable, but interesting page nonetheless. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassiere#History

[Molasses]

From that page Bra-free relief

According to a study published in the Clinical Study of Pain, large-breasted women can reduce back pain by going braless. Of the women participating in the study, 79% decided to stop wearing bras completely.[135]

In a five-year study, 100 women who experienced shoulder pain were given the option to alleviate the weight on their shoulders by not wearing a bra for two weeks. In that two-week period, a majority experienced relief from pain. Relief was complete among 84% of women who did not elevate their arms. However, their pain symptoms returned within an hour of resuming bra use. Three years later, 79% of the patients had stopped wearing a bra "to remove breast weight from the shoulder permanently because it rendered them symptom free." Sixteen percent worked in occupations requiring them to elevate their arms daily, and this group only achieved partial improvement. Of these, 13 of the 16 ceased to wear a bra, and by six months all were without pain.[133]

[inmysparetime]

Correctly fitted bras should not be putting excessive weight on the shoulders. The breasts should be supported by the chest band, the shoulders only provide support. My H-cup norks don't make my shoulders hurt as my bras fit properly.

[TheRealTillyMinto]

I am a 32C & i can go bra free & do if they are all in the wash but i am a runner & you definitely need a sports bra for running. also i frequently run for a train, bus, up stairs & its not comfortable without a bra particularly around my period when my breasts are sore.

i dont like it when my bum fat moves as i run - with breasts it is just the same.

to me bras are like shoes - the body is designed to work without them but it is more comfortable with.

[sakura]

Why do women with less than a D cup bother?

To make their breasts stick out so that men can see them? So that men are treated to eye candy as far as the eye can see?


I'm ashamed to say I wear a bra, even though I'm less than a D-cup. I stopped for a while, and got quite into wearing cool layered clothing so that my nipples weren'T obvious. I wouldn't be surprised if bras damaged the health of our breasts to be honest. If we were supposed to wear them, we'd come equipped with one, wouldn'T we! Like balls, I reckon breasts are supposed to be kept cool and bras overheat them.

Anyway, I read somewhere that if you wear a bra your breasts actually lose their ability to support themselves and become saggier than they would have if you'd never begun wearing one.

[sakura]

obviously that last sentence only applies to women with smaller breasts.

I do wonder what our bra-burning foremothers think of us today, when they see all the money women spend on decorative bras to please men. They must be so sad.

[rosy71]

I've never thought about why women wear bras just assumed you need to. I suppose without them, everyone would have saggy boobs so it's partly about looking better. It's also more comfortable. I'm only a 34A but wouldn't like to run without wearing one.

The bra was invented by a woman and was considerably less restrictive than previous underwear so I'm sure it was liberating at the time!

[JoantheFennel]

I

[JoantheFennel]

Women in history didn't tend to live much past 40, and wore a corset or banding which supported.

[gothicmama]

A plain supportive bra is fine it prevents unwanted comments and male attention (ideal world it would not matter)unsdupportive pretty tat purely for objectivation is wrong

[TunipTheVegemal]

I totally wear mine for patriarchy-compliance reasons to be honest.
When we did the Resisting Femininity thread it was the line I could not bring myself to cross.
I can give up make up, high heels, long hair, jewellery, hair dye - all those things but I couldn't get rid of the Good Bra.

And having had experience of other styles of underwear when I used to do historical re-enactment, I think that the relative comfort of even a well-fitted high quality bra is overstated. I've worn various corsets, stays and laced bodices and I've found all except the very shape-distorting upper class ones of some periods (eg the very long bodied Elizabethan ones) to be more comfortable than underwired bras.

There is this myth now that bras are very natural and comfortable but it's rubbish, really. A friend once sent me a Maidenform ad that used the slogan 'The bra for the way you are!' where the text was all about how Maidenform bras just follow your natural shape, and it was an amazing piece of cognitive dissonance - even the NAME Maidenform told you what it was doing (ie making your breast shape maiden-like) and yet it was insisting the opposite of reality and people were buying into it.

Add a pair of tight jeans that squish your bottom and tummy and you have the contemporary version of the clothes that have always pushed women's bodies out of shape, only today they are not seen for what they are.

[TunipTheVegemal]

(actually though I've never worn 19th c dress and that may be more restrictive than the earlier styles, even for working class women)

[ClothesOfSand]

There isn't any evidence that wearing a bra stops your breasts from sagging. Bra companies are not allowed to advertise bras as stopping sagging because of this.

I didn't wear a bra until I started breastfeeding, and breastfed for a long time. I am nearly 40 so my breasts have just started to sag a little bit, but my nipples still face forward. I think the whole thing is probably luck/genetics.

[MooncupGoddess]

I was forced to get a bra by my mother when I was 12 - loathed it at first, but have just got used to it over the years and would feel odd without it. I suppose it is about keeping the dangerous breasts under control rather than letting them jump freely. Good metaphor for women's sexuality.

It is amazingly hard to find plain cotton underwired bras, which are much the most functional - all the shops seem to be full of horrid lacy, synthetic, padded numbers

[ForkInTheForeheid]

I have bras that I wear for aesthetic reasons but the main reason (despite being a B/C cup) is that I find it uncomfortable without one. It's uncomfortable to run, jump etc. because they flop about and get a bit sore.

Surely an item of clothing that allows us to run more comfortably is a positive thing? (Although I accept that there is a focus on "lifting" "pushing up" etc. which is nothing to do with comfort and everything to do with cultural expectations of women's bodies).

[gothicmama]

Its about finding something which provides comfort prevents chaffing etc it also opens up a wider debate about form and function of clothing

[ForkInTheForeheid]

(Oh, and padded bras in early pregnancy are a godsend IMO, stop sore nipples from rubbing off of everything!)

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I have big boobs, and so I have to wear a bra. I did go through a period of not wearing one when I was at university, in my late 20s, but I did get saggier during that time. Now I need to wear a bra because otherwise my norks would be brushing my knees (slight exaggeration), and also because it gives me a better shape in my clothing (and I am already sufficiently unhappy about my appearance, and don't want to be more unhappy because my bustline is round my waist).

So I wear a bra for my own comfort - and I choose pretty ones (when I can find them in my size) for my own pleasure. The fact that dh likes the pretty bras is an added benefit, in my book - it's not why I do it.

I just wish that more companies realised that women with big boobs and broad backs like pretty bras too - yes, we need more scaffolding, but it doesn't have to be ugly, does it? I once complained to M&S because the only bra they stocked in my size was nothing less than armour plating, beginning somewhere up underneath the chin, and going down well towards the waist. I was told there was 'No demand' for bigger bras!!

[ClothesOfSand]

Fork, people generally run in sports bras though don't they, which are more like a strechy crop top and don't look much like a normal bra at all. If it were all about comfort I'd wear a sports bra or crop top. In fact I've been wearing a balconette bra for the last 8 years.

[MrsHoarder]

I'm only (normally) a C cup, but a fairly soft bra which just holds everything in place (not a push up/thickly padded bra) makes everything feel much more comfortable.

Otherwise there's a lot of uncomfy jiggling going on when I walk/run/cycle and I have really obvious nipples through even a few layers of clothes. I do prefer not to wear them when at home, but then I'm less worried about people seeing me and can lounge around in oversized hoodies and other comfy clothes.

[ForkInTheForeheid]

ClothesofSand

Yes, that's true about going running, but I guess I mean running in a less organised sense, running around playing with DS, running for a bus, walking very briskly (as I tend to wherever I go).

I suppose it could be that if we never, ever wore bras our muscles would develop differently and these things may not be uncomfortable, I genuinely don't know. (similar to how our muscles in our feet are not the same as if we never wore shoes)

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

I'm a 34AA and never wore bras regularly until my 30s when my breasts started to sag really badly. Even when I was BF, I just wore one for the first few weeks to keep the breast pads in place. As soon as my supply settled down and I stopped spurting everywhere I ditched them again.

I still hate them and never wear one at home unless we have guests. I wear one when out to look 'normal' and so as not to embarrass my teenagers. If enough other women let things hang free, I would too - it's pure cowardice.

Running is definitely comfier with some support though.