I’m sure you’ve heard about the movement to “Free the Bra”, sometimes called the “Free the Nipple” movement, or “No Bra, No Problem”. This movement is awesome. Why? Because it means that women are taking back control over their bodies, and questioning why exactly we are expected to wear bras (something I also like to call a cleverly disguised torture device).
If you google “Are bras necessary?” you’ll find a lot of conflicting opinions, but the most compelling ones, as far as I’m concerned are the arguments that there might be a link between breast cancer and wearing a bra. Bras, by confining our breasts, keep them from getting rid of toxins which cause cancer, as well as raise the temperature of the breast tissue. The most shocking statistics about this come from a study of over 4,000 women which found that: 1. Women who wear bras 24/7 have a 3 out of 4 chance of getting breast cancer, 2. Women who wear bras for more than 12 hours a day have a 1 in 7 chance, 3. Women who wear bras less than 12 hours a day have a 1 in 52 chance, and 4. Women who rarely or never wear bras have a 1 in 168 chance of getting breast cancer. Those are hugely significant differences. There is a 125-fold increase in the likelihood of developing breast cancer between women who don’t wear a bra and women who wear one all the time.
There was another study, done by the French, where researchers recorded a group of women for fifteen years and found that the women who didn’t wear bras actually had perkier breasts than the regular bra wearers. The study claims that bras actually decrease circulation and tone in breasts over time with continued use. So there goes the myth we’re told from the moment we start wearing bras—that your bras are necessary for support! This is not true. We have ligaments that are designed to naturally give support which are not used when we wear bras and those are the ligaments that help prevent sag. Wearing a bra literally makes those ligaments atrophy.
What about the fact that wearing bras is a social construct? It’s expected. Why is it expected? What is so wrong with a woman who decides that wearing a bra isn’t something she wants to do? Women who are vocal about not wearing bras are often labeled “sluts” or “whores” because of their decision. Why? Personal story: my first big internship, after my sophomore year of college, a year where I also literally threw away my bras, I assembled a bunch of outfits that did a great job of hiding my lack of a bra unless you were looking very closely. But my mother forced me to go buy bras and wear them every day because that’s what’s expected of you in an office. I spent the summer readjusting to the uncomfortableness of a bra—because no matter how comfortable you may claim your bra is, it is not nearly as comfortable as not wearing one at all.
Another thing to think about: why is our society so anti-nipple? A lot of arguments for bras focus on the fact that without a bra you cannot hide your nipples. Which makes me ask: why is it such a problem if a little nipple is visible through the material? Our society has hyper-sexualized the nipple, to the point where women are scared to give up their bras because they don’t want to be sexually harassed because their slightly-more-visible nipple is somehow seen as an invitation. This is a gender-equality issue. Women have to wear bras because our bodies are objectified and we’re body shamed into believing bras are necessary. We wear bras because we’re told that men can’t handle it if we don’t, which is a double standard.
Finally, there are many women who don’t feel comfortable not wearing a bra simply because of their size. The purpose of the No Bra, No Problem movement isn’t to shame women into giving up their bras if they want to wear them. It’s to advocate for the freedom to choose whether you wear a bra or not without worrying about if it’s socially acceptable either way, which is why it’s so awesome.
Overall, I love the Free The Bra movement. As women, we are taking back control over our bodies, and if that involves deciding to get rid of bras, well, I’m all for it.