The Ant-Bra Rant

Easy access is not the only reason not to wear bras.* Recent preliminary findings show that there may be a link between wearing a bra on a regular basis and an increase in chances of getting breast-cancer. This evidence is explored in the book, "Dressed To Kill" by Sydney Ross Singer and Sonja Grismaijer - which I have not read. While the evidence is not conclusive, the bra industry is so big, that I do not take the FDA's lack of concern as proof of bras' harmlesness, since the FDA is very much under the thumb of corporate influence.

Interestingly, the study does not draw a distininction between different types of bras, but intuitively, it makes sense that more comfortable bras, such as sports-bras or plain cotton underwires (granny bras), are less harmful than fashionable bras such as push-ups and lace monstrocities. The study pointed out tightness as a major factor for breast-harming, and said that while untested, super-tight clothing might also be suspect - which puts a new spin on tzniut.

Breast pain and bra-wearing have been definitevely linked, though again, these studies fail to distinguish between different types of bras, and the granny-bra/lacey-bra dichotomy could prove crucial.

In any event, all of these studies call into question while we as a society advocate wearing bras, and the answer is simple: To conform to our conception of female beauty, a conception that is reinforced by the media. Different societies have different ideals of what a beautiful pair of breasts should look like, though the Western society ideal is spreading thanks to globalization. The point is, that the bra-requiring ideal of breast beauty is not objective or universal, and should not be treated as such.

What is universal, is a desire for symmetry in a female, since symetry predicts fertility - yet ironically, in the West we have adopted an ideal of beauty so skinny, that it probably lessens fertility.

So ladies, let loose: I challenge you to go without a bra for a day and see how it feels. The idea may seem scary at first, but just think about how sexy Giselle Bundchen is in a Victoria's Secret bra - now think how much sexier she is without the bra!

If you want to be free but subtle, I recommend layering: a sweater, and a shawl over a shirt/dress, or a tank-top/tee-shirt over it work pretty well.

Turns out those bra-burners might have been right after all.

* Lovely date moment: "You don't wear bras - that's so cool!" Me (I thought this but was too polite to say it): "I don't wear bras because I'm a feminist you ****!" Clearly, this was an ill-fated romance.