Bras: Supporting Breasts Or Restraining Women

I am not one of the extremists who advocates for women to stop shaving and burning bras. However, lately, I've been exploring a lot of new ideas, and I start wondering why is it that women have to wear bras all the time. Frankly, and I'm sure most women would agree with me, bras are very uncomfortable. The best part of coming back home is taking off my bra. But since it's so uncomfortable, why do we keep on doing it to ourselves?

I remember this one time while I was doing a TV show. Came dinner time, the crew and I went to a buffet. After a whole day of shooting and traveling, I was exhausted. I had no energy left to even remotely care what I looked like, so I put on a baggy T-shirt, shorts, and no bra. I never thought that

anyone would make a fuss out of it until it was time for feedback, and one of my producers pulled me aside and blatantly told me that it was very inappropriate of me to not wear a bra. She said, "What would people think of you?"

Image via allday.com

Hold up. Why do I have to even care what anyone else thinks of what I wear on MY OWN body? As a matter of fact, why do they even bother in the first place? I might be wrong, but I don't think I've ever looked at a man's article clothing and thought, "Huh, that guy must be very sexual." But why is it so different for women?

Bras or brassieres dated as far back as the Roman Empire. During the Ancient Egypt, women were bare-breasted. The reason for wearing bras was originally to prevent breasts ptosis, a medical term for sagging breasts. As time went on, the main reason for wearing bras started shifting. By the 16th century, bras or corsets became an indicate of social class. Wealthier women wore fancy corsets to show off their appearance. A corset binds a woman's waist and pushes her breasts upward to create a more "appealing" look. 

Image via all-that-is-interesting.com

Centuries later, bras have gone through multiple makeovers -- the reasons being lack of material (such as metal for wires during the wars), or to better support women's breasts. But the core reasons still remained the same: making women more appealing. In 1920's when jazz was all the rage, flat-chested women were the ideal type of beauty, so the bandeau was created to flatten a woman's breasts and make her appear more boyish. The pattern is repeated until today. Victoria's Secret is one of the most obvious examples of that. Models have to wear pushup bras and make their breasts appear larger because the bigger the breasts, the more attractive a woman is, right?

Wait, some people might argue that women need bras to support and prevent their breasts from sagging. Well, scientists in France have spent 15 years researching and came out with the conclusion that bras make breasts saggier. You can read more about the research in the links down below. Many websites have published similar stories about that research. Like Sir Newton said, "What goes up must come down." Bras or no bras, gravity will still pull those girls down.

Image via vanguardngr.com

Contrary to the popular belief, breasts sagginess is actually caused by reasons including a woman's genes, nursing, body mass index (BMI), cigarette smoking, or pregnancy. You see, a woman does not need bras to support her breasts. Just like many other things in our society, it's simply something that has always been done this way, so people just carry on the tradition without doubting it. How is it inappropriate for a woman to go bare-breasted? Is it because it's inappropriate for her nipples to peak through her shirts? Is it because her breasts bounce when she walks? Or is it because it turns a man on when a woman is not wearing a bra and he somehow won't be able to control his urges? A woman has to be held accountable for how a man reacts to her, right?

This is absurd. While I do understand that some women with really large breasts need bras for support, bras are absolutely not articles of clothing that a woman cannot leave her house without. You might say I'm a hippie, but I feel freer when I don't wear a bra. My breasts get a chance to breathe and it helps relief tension from my back and shoulders. At the end of the day, it's all about doing what makes you comfortable. If you don't like them, just ditch them. If people tell you otherwise; screw them.

P.S. I love how the opening sentence of "History of Brassieres" in Wikipedia is, "The history of brassieres is inextricably intertwined with the social history of the status of women, including the evolution of fashion and changing views of the female body."

Love, Catherine

XOXO

Sources: 
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/259073.php
http://www.livescience.com/28664-bras-make-breasts-sag.html
http://jezebel.com/your-bra-is-actually-making-your-breasts-saggier-accor-472470230
http://www.prevention.com/beauty/defy-your-age/how-your-bra-could-make-your-breasts-sag
http://www.counselheal.com/articles/4852/20130411/bras-make-breasts-saggier-15-year-french-study-reveals.htm
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/bra-safety
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/06/the-history-of-the-bra_n_5701368.html
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/bra-history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptosis_%28breasts%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_brassieres