Would you ever stop wearing bras? I wouldn’t. Media reports this week challenged women to change their bra-wearing habits.
These calls for us to go bra-less were based on comments made by a French professor during a radio interview. He claimed to have measured the changing breasts of over 300 “sports” women between the ages of 18 and 35. His conclusion? Going without a bra isn't necessary and may make women's breasts less attractive. Despite bra manufacturers' claims to the contrary, there is no medical reason to wear a bra. What Professor Rouillon advised, though, is for women to stop wearing bras if we wish to achieve authentic boob beauty.
A recent poll found that 80% of women wouldn't leave their homes without proper boob support. So what might happen if women adopted this new non-bra look?
1) We wouldn't get that job or promotion. According to surveys, women who don’t wear bras in the workplace are viewed as unprofessional and sloppy. We might forfeit career advancement in exchange for less saggy chest flesh.
2) We’d be judged as less attractive. The Fashion Police have ruled that going without a bra is a fashion faux pas. (This despite the lack of bras worn by runway models.) It’s no wonder Miley Cyrus tweeted about the French professor's bra conclusions. She’s only one of many female celebrities regularly attacked for daring not to wear a bra out in public. The Huffington Post has an entire "sideboob" section dedicated to the impropriety of the no-bra look.
3) We'd risk more nip slips. Women are scrutinized for any hint of nippage, be it through their clothes or some random wardrobe malfunction. The darts on Anne Hathaway's dress were more newsworthy than her Oscar win. There are websites devoted to on-the-street and celebrity nipple sightings. Allowing your nipples to be displayed is viewed as sexually provocative. (This also applies to new moms who breastfeed in public or post nursing photos on Facebook.) You don't even have to flash real nipples be found guilty. Beyonce was criticized for exposing fake nips on her recent world tour.
4) Our clothes wouldn’t fit. Bras are part of a family of foundations. If I abandon my bra, do I throw out my SPANX? T-shirt and contour bras offer me a smooth, contained shape under my clothes. I can’t achieve that result no matter how small, large, saggy, or perky my breasts. No, I’d have to ditch most of my wardrobe, along with my lingerie.
5) We’d kiss cleavage good-bye. Women's breasts are shaped more like tear-drops then round, pushed up and together mounds. Cleavage is not the natural state of breast affairs. Victoria’s Secret would go out of business.
My conclusion? True boob beauty is found in the eye of the boob-holder. Those who love us don't care whether we're perky, saggy, big, small, lopsided, surgically enhanced, or minus one or both of our breasts. They adore us, not the constantly changing moving targets on our chest.
Women can decide for themselves what suits them best when it comes to intimate apparel. Like bras, one unpublished survey does not fit all. Women can make the choice to go bra-less, even if means being judged. Or we can dress our breasts in beautiful, simple, sexy, or functional bras. We'll still be critiqued for wearing the wrong size or style, adding too much or not enough padding, or allowing lace or pesky straps to show through our clothes. We can’t win in the court of public opinion. So we may as well do as we please.
What’s your view? Do you like wearing bras? Would you ever stop wearing bras? What’s your take on the French study?