Four myths about bras, busted
EVERY second celeb seems to be going braless lately. But is that actually good for you, or is it bad? Here are four myths about what bras can — or can’t — do.
EVERY second celeb seems to be going braless lately ... but is it good for you, or bad for you? Alexandra Coulton looks into whether more young women should ditch their bras in the name of comfort.
Last weekend, I made the classic rookie error of falling asleep on the beach. At midday. Lying on my stomach. For two hours.
Needless to say, the back half of my body was as red as a beetroot for a week, leading to a lot of painful inconveniences; I couldn’t sleep on my back, I could only wear very soft clothing, and of course, bras were a no-go.
I’m not going to lie: I quickly identified my sunburn as an awesome opportunity to free-boob mercilessly for as long as possible. My relationship with bras is one of mixed emotions — I love a good bralette, and knowing that my girls are secured snugly in place is a sure-fire confidence booster. But nothing beats the sigh of relief that often accompanies the removing of one’s bra at the end of the day.
Maybe I was being paranoid, but during my bra-free week it seemed as though people looked at my breasts more often. Not because they were having a perve, but because they were genuinely taken aback. A few friends and a family member even commented on my “lack of support” because apparently my girls were “all over the shop”. And I’m a B-cup.
Curious as to whether this is the norm, I asked a good friend of mine who regularly goes braless. Kalina, a 21 year-old arts student, never made the conscious decision to stop wearing a bra.
“The absence of bras started to creep into my everyday life when I realised that it is just so much more comfortable not to wear one,” she told me.
“People usually don’t realise that I’m not wearing a bra ... Even if people do realise, I don’t really care, because I know full well that the clothing I wear doesn’t affect others in the slightest.” Preach, sister!
Women’s obsession with wearing bras to look ‘normal’ or add ‘shape’ to their breasts is, quite frankly, a little bit sad. Numerous studies have shown that bras are not at all a necessity and many of the benefits they are said to provide are purely psychological. In fact, there are so many myths about bras that it’s actually flipping ridiculous. So let’s bust a few of them here and now:
MYTH 1: SLEEPING IN A BRA HELPS YOU KEEP PERKY
This is probably one of the biggest myths that needs debunking. Dr. Amber Guth, associate professor of surgery and director of breast cancer surgery at NYU Medical Center told the Huffington Post that “there is certainly no evidence that sleeping in bras is either helpful or harmful”.
I can tell you one other thing for certain and that is: wearing a bra to bed is BLOODY UNCOMFORTABLE. It’s like sleeping with a freaking cactus strapped to your chest.
MYTH 2: BRAS KEEP YOUR BOOBIES IN SHAPE AND PREVENT SAGGING
Contrary to popular belief, bras may actually do the opposite of what they claim to. Jean-Denis Rouillon, a professor of sports science at France’s Besançon University, spent 15 years studying the breasts of 330 women aged between 18 and 35 and says bras may actually cause sag rather than prevent it. Rouillon’s research shows that women who don’t wear bras benefit more in the long run because the lack of pressure on their breasts allows for muscle tissue to develop further to provide extra support, causing more lift and higher nipple positioning. OUR BOOBS HAVE NATURAL SUPPORT! Isn’t life wonderful?
Note: The study’s results were best evidenced in younger women. Rouillon suggests that women who have been wearing bras for 30+ years may have developed dependency and would not benefit from discarding their bras.
MYTH 3: BRAS MAKE YOU LOOK ‘NORMAL’
Wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong. The shape our breasts take when we wear bras is only considered ‘normal’ because we wear them so damned much. Your breasts are f***ing beautiful no matter what size or shape they are — don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.
I was too self-conscious to go braless for a long time because one of my breasts is significantly larger than the other one. That is, until I realised it’s actually more ‘normal’ (common) to have two different-sized breasts than to be completely symmetrical.
Seeing wonky-boobies or just braless women in general is only considered ‘weird’ because we are constantly bombarded with images of women with unobtainable standards of beauty (see also: Photoshop). The only way this is ever going to change is if more of us free-boob and let our lovely uneven selves show. VIVA LA FREE BOOB!
MYTH 4: BRAS CAUSE BREAST CANCER
A 2014 study by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle found no direct link between wearing a bra and developing breast cancer.
“The risk was similar no matter how many hours per day women wore a bra, whether they wore a bra with underwire, or at what age they began wearing a bra,” said Lu Chen, a researcher at Fred Hutchinson. “We weren’t really surprised. We knew that the biological plausibility of a link between bras and breast cancer was really weak.” While it hasn’t been proven that bras are good for you, they definitely aren’t bad for you either.
SO WHY DO WE WEAR BRAS?
A lot of women wear bras because they’re comfortable and that makes them feel secure or at ease. And that’s totally fine. But perhaps we’re better off treating bras as more of an accessory than a necessity — after all, the science is in, and they really aren’t essential for wellbeing. So why not give free-boobing a try? Venture out into the world, bra-free, and see how you go. It’s strangely liberating and comfortable as hell. Especially if you’re sunburnt.
For more stories like this, pick up the latest copy of Birdee or visit www.birdeemag.com.