Breasts, boobs, chests, bosoms, cans or knockers. Whatever you call them, they do not need to be restricted by the claustrophobic, underwired torture chamber you put them in every day.
Ladies, it’s time we get real about bras.
To start, let’s look at the fit of bras. In a study published in the Chiropractic and Manual Therapies – a peer reviewed medical journal – about bra size and fit, they took a sample size of 30 women ages 18 to 26 years old. The study found that 80 percent of women were wearing the wrong size bra.
The so-called support women are claiming to have is false. That supportive, best friend that is supposedly holding your breasts in place is doing nothing if it doesn’t fit. In all honesty, a bra is really just a pain in the chest.
Another study done by sports science Professor Jean-Denis Rouillan at Besançon university found that bras are not necessary for breast health. He says, “bras actually prevent breasts from growing or achieving their natural lift.”
Rouillan’s study consisted of 330 women between the ages of 18 to 35 over a 15-year period. Those who didn’t wear a bra had a 7 millimeter lift in their nipples each year. Plus, they showed fewer stretch marks and their breasts were firmer.
Now, if this isn’t a call to free the nipple, I don’t know what is.
Rouillan’s study found that by not wearing a bra, you are protecting your breasts from gravity. You will start to have better posture, which helps develop the muscles underneath your breasts that supports and lifts them.
With this information, why are women searching for support and spending loads of money to get it, when they have all the support they could ever want right under their breasts.
“The bra is a false necessity, medically, physiologically, anatomically – breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity. On the contrary, they get saggier with a bra.” Says Rouillan.
Not only should you be aware of your breasts and the bras you are confining them in, you should also wait to put your pre-teen daughter in one.
Rouillan’s study found that when younger women stop or never start wearing a bra, there is no change in the perkiness of the breasts. This is because there is no under breast muscle loss. By never wearing a bra, it will actually improve the orientation of the breast and make them perkier.
With this finding, you should not rush a bra onto any young woman. Now, ultimately it is their body and their choice so they can wear one if it makes them happy. You should, however, show them the study first. They may reconsider spending their hard-earned money on a bra that will lead to saggy, non-perky boobs.
Now, Rouillan’s study is just a small sample size of young women and you might be saying, “I have big boobs,” or “I have back problems. The support truly does help me.” These are true, as some women need the added support.
Rouillan acknowledges that women who are over 35 are exempted from his findings: “these women have been wearing bras for decades. As a result, taking them off full-time would likely lead to more discomfort than it would in younger women,” says Rouillan.
But with all this being said, women should never feel obligated to wear a bra. It is your right as a woman to choose what you do with your body.
If wearing a bra makes you feel sexy and confident, then wear one. Buy a matching set and strut around your house feeling like the incredible women you are. If wearing a bra makes you feel restricted and uncomfortable, then take that thing off! Burn it, throw it in the garbage, make confetti, craft with it or use it as a target for shooting practice. It’s up to you. It’s your bra. What you do with your bra is your business and no one else’s.