‘Bras are a curse!’ How lockdown changed readers’ views of their breasts

 A year since the pandemic started, women’s bodies and habits have changed. Here they discuss underwiring, sleep underwear, and how going bra-free helps with polymastia

‘Lockdown has released me from the bra’

I was a teen in the 70s and morphed into a feminist. I find bras hideously uncomfortable; I only started wearing one in 2018 when I went back to work and the lack of confidence that often besieges women over 60 made me too self-conscious to face the public bra-free. Lockdown has released me from the bra, and the job, and I doubt I’ll wear one again. Jackie, writer, Midlands

‘Underwired bras now seem an unkind way to treat my body’

Underwired bras were my staple. That all changed in lockdown. I lost my job and within a few weeks had decided to retrain as a personal trainer. I’ve spent the past year in a sports bra. The rigidity and harshness of a wire now seems like an unkind way to treat my body. And lockdown has taught me a lot about being kinder. Recently I found a lump in my breast. Fortunately, it was nothing serious, but as I sat in the hospital waiting for the results of the tests, I knew some of the other women sitting with me would not be so lucky. That rather frightening experience further reinforced my appreciation for my little breasts as they are, and I’ll carry on being kind to them. Gabrielle O’Hare, personal trainer, Manchester

‘Covid made it possible for me to go braless for an entire year’ (posed by model). Photograph: Anetlanda/Getty Images/iStockphoto

‘Gravity hasn’t had the drastic effect I feared’

I don’t wear a bra when I am at home or working in my studio. A year ago I said: ‘If this lockdown carries on for any length of time, my boobs will be down at my waist!’ But gravity hasn’t had as drastic effect as I feared (yet). Anonymous, Scotland

‘Given the culture of my island, nipples would cause havoc’

I used to always need underwiring, since I’m top-heavy. Post-pandemic, I have given up wearing bras at home and only wear them when out. I wish bras weren’t necessary, but given the culture of my little island, nipples would cause pure havoc, car crashes and maybe even something tabled in parliament. It’s interesting, given that photographs of native women before colonial rule include bare-chested women. How these notions of covering up integrated into our society is something I ponder often. Bras are a curse! Minal Wickrematunge, designer and artist, Sri Lanka

‘Perhaps I’ll never wear one again’

Bra-wearing was always an uncomfortable thing for me. Since I fed my three children, my breasts have grown to a size that made not wearing a bra an impossibility. However, I suffer from polymastia and the third breast that developed into a complete breast after breastfeeding is directly under the right breast, exactly where the lower band of a bra normally rests. Covid made it possible for me to go braless for an entire year and I don’t regret it. Perhaps I’ll never wear one again. Elaine, teacher, Germany

‘I have bought a lot of new bras this year’

I seem to have bought more bras this year than any year previously – all sports bras, bralettes and sleep bras. Isn’t it funny how you think you are the master of your own actions, only to realise you’re part of a much bigger wave? Helen Berry, Cambridgeshire

‘I have ventured back into underwired bras’

Before lockdown I had a partner and I had a selection of underwired bras. The relationship became more strained through the early weeks of lockdown, and we eventually withdrew from each other. Then I found a breast lump in June, and was swiftly referred and diagnosed with cancer. I had surgery in August, and spent three months recovering. My only possible bras were post-surgical ones. These are functional, old-lady-style garments.

Since the new year, I have re-measured my assets (still intact) and gradually ventured into some smooth textured, but now underwired, rather more attractive bras. I find I feel more secure in a sleep bra at night, and sometimes I keep it on a couple of hours in the mornings. After all, there’s now no one else to please, which is a shame … Janet, retired lecturer, Leeds

‘A good bra is a fundamental part of feeling good’

Before my son was born, it was always my intention to breastfeed, so in the run-up to the birth, I bought an assortment of nursing bras in varying sizes with a view to being ready for anything. All the baby advice tells you that your breasts will change, but what it doesn’t say is that they will change week-on-week and nothing will ever fit consistently. I think it’s safe to say I hated the nursing bras! Chronically uncomfortable, with lumps and rolls in the fabric. I finished breastfeeding just a few weeks ago and I cannot tell you the utter bliss and luxury of finally being able to wear a wired bra again.

I’ve come to realise that a good bra is a fundamental part of feeling good. In many ways, the pandemic has helped me avoid the stress of going out in an uncomfortable bra, knowing that I didn’t look right, in other ways it has helped me realise the bizarre way in which it brings structure to life. Good bra on, ready for the day. Bad bra on, things just aren’t right. Vanessa Scanlan, information analyst for the NHS, Essex

‘Going braless was an act of rebellion’

My underwired bras must think I’m dead. When quarantine began I immediately stopped wearing them. I wore sports bras at first, then went full braless for six or seven months (I’m a 36E so this was an act of utter rebellion). Being totally braless wasn’t great for working from home; Zoom calls aside, I never felt like I transitioned from lounge time to work time. So, I finally splurged on two bralettes made for bigger chests. I guess the physical constraint helps remind me that I’m “in the office”, so to speak. Alicia, New York

Photograph: Galina Zhigalova/Getty Images/EyeEm

‘Lockdown made me realise that boobs aren’t everything’

I have no boobs, hence I wear a bra – so I gain some. But lockdown has made me realise that boobs aren’t everything and I’ve spent all my life persecuted by hammocks that just give me pain. One benefit of having no boobs – everyone always looks me in the eyes. Jan Atkins, graphic designer, Hammersmith

‘I dread going back to the daily bra’

I have proudly ditched my bra while working from home and I am sure my 32FF boobs have started to become firmer as they have had to hold themselves up. I dread going back to daily bra-wearing and recoil as I remember the pain it caused me. Societal norms be damned. Anonymous, London

‘I stopped wearing bras altogether’

I live in a fairly conservative city on the Muslim-majority island of Java. I was specifically told before moving here that it’s considered socially unacceptable for women’s nipples to show through clothes. This worked fine for the first year I lived there, but once the pandemic started and I wasn’t leaving my apartment, I stopped wearing bras altogether. On a humid, 35C day, the last thing you want is a heavy cotton bra collecting your boob sweat. Now that the city is reopening, I am daunted by the prospect of going back to daily bras. I’m actually looking into moving to a less conservative island, just to get away from this pressure to cover up. Sydney Michelle, teacher and writer, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

‘Bra-wearers put up with daily nuisance’

The way I think about bras has changed. Why don’t more of them fasten at the front?! It’s really awkward to strap yourself into and fasten them at the back, especially if you’ve got physical issues. It’s not until you stop and think about it that you realise its just another daily nuisance that bra-wearers put up with. Maybe it’s a structural thing, but human beings have built impossible structures before – bridges, tunnels, extraordinary hats – so surely all it needs is someone to take on the challenge. Maybe bridges are just considered of greater importance than the everyday comfort of more than half the adult population. Anonymous

‘I dread going back to daily bra-wearing.’ Photograph: dannikonov/Getty Images/iStockphoto

‘I became obsessed with finding the right bra’

Lockdown was an absolute godsend for me in the underwear department, as I was recovering from a single mastectomy in September 2019, followed by radiotherapy, which effectively toasted my chest wall and has left me with constant soreness and pain. There was such pressure to undergo reconstructive surgery following the removal of a breast, but I was always adamant that I didn’t want a Frankenboob, so I elected to go flat on my left side.

Enter the world of “foobs” – hospital discharge triangular cushions, realistic NHS silicon breasts, lovingly hand-knitted knockers – a myriad of false breasts, none of which I quite got on with. I spent hundreds of pounds on specialist bras with rigid upholstery that gripped my chest wall like an iron band. Following Facebook groups’ recommendations, I tried cheapo supermarket cropped tops.

My life had become an obsession with finding the right bra. Then lockdown came, and with it the opportunity to dress for comfort rather than to satisfy the constant pressure to disguise my missing breast. Gradually, I became more and more confident about spending time without a foob. I started going foobless around the house with my family, then gradually started introducing short shopping trips and family walks, and within months I had given up on post-surgical bras and foobs altogether.

I came to realise how much pain and inconvenience I had been putting myself through to make myself look “normal” so “nobody would ever know” and “you can’t tell”. I’ve had breast cancer. I can tell. I do still know. I am in daily pain. I don’t conform to a “body normal” standard any more. I am an amputee. I shouldn’t have to hide it. Lockdown gave me the chance to come to terms with this, and to mentally adjust at my own pace, for which I shall be forever grateful. Anonymous, Scotland

(Source: The Guardian)

Why are Indians so embarrassed about the bra?

As Indian girls, we are raised with the strict instruction that our bras should not be hung out to dry like the rest of the dirty linen we wash in public. Perhaps the reason that the bra has come to be a trigger garment is not because men can’t deal with it, but because with all our hiding we haven’t really given them a chance to.

We, as a nation, have always been surreptitious about lingerie. Just like sex, we’ll go to great lengths to avoid talking about it. While the lower garment barely makes a brief, the bra for some reason creates a mountain out of a molehill.

As Indian girls, we are raised with the strict instruction that our bras should not be hung out to dry like the rest of the dirty linen we wash in public. And if there are sons at home, then there’s even more reason for us to pretend that lingerie does not exist. If unannounced relatives dropped in, and lingerie waved out from the clothesline, furtive glances were exchanged and the deft and dexterous mother would have it stashed away as unassumingly as possible. The son’s VIP trunks or the father’s yellow-with-age vest remained hanging recklessly, with not a sign of shame in its folds.

We are one of the fastest growing populations in the world, which means every minute, someone somewhere is doing it. And yet our heightened sense of prudishness will put the world to shame. The practice of the wife shopping for her husband’s undergarments still prevails in several regions of our great country, but I’m still waiting to catch a man buying a bra and panty for his wife.

This is at odds with our traditions. There have always been voluptuous figures in our epics and mythology, and we idolise them. These women are usually depicted frolicking with deer and birds in celestial gardens, or coyly stringing jasmine into their hair as their men drool over them. They wear sheer billowy saris, often without a blouse, leaving nothing to the imagination. Or, they wear a cloth band that travels around their bosom to sit in a delicate knot in the centre of shapely backs. This band barely hides the couple of promises it encloses.

When the woman stepped out of her mythical existence and landed on terra firma, she realised that her bare bosom would get her into trouble with the ungodly men on Earth. So, with much ingenuity, the bra was invented. In its early form, it was more like a blouse with conical cups. Naidu Hall in Tamil Nadu, Libertina elsewhere in the country, were among pioneers to make this pointed statement. Erstwhile Indian movie actresses took on the role of PR agents for the products. This move surely added a feather in their cup… err… cap. Who can forget the grand entry of Asha Parekh or Nanda on screen a couple of minutes after their bosoms arrived? Peak performance!

When the woman stepped out of her mythical existence and landed on terra firma, she realised that her bare bosom would get her into trouble with the ungodly men on Earth


But, still the cloaked existence of lingerie continued. Until courage Triumph’ed. It Enamoured customers with lacy offerings. Lovable products lured the Indian woman. These Pretty Secrets now ventured out from hiding, into stunning shop window displays. While Juliet catered to tight purse strings, Amante aimed higher. Suddenly, there was lingerie for every woman, for all and no occasions. Slowly the men crept in. These days, husbands wait patiently as their wives try on lacy graces in the changing rooms of sprawling lingerie stores. Friends and lovers strolling through malls, walk past lingerie displays leisurely. No squirming. No leering.

We are evolving and that’s a good thing. Therefore, when the Municipal Corporation in Mumbai dashed down a protest to pull down lingerie displays on claims of indecency, we applauded in solidarity. When sexual orientation has come out of the closet, why should the bra be behind? If men can deal with the rational fact that their junk needs a jockstrap surely they can understand that tits need support. If men can wear their jeans way below their boxers in the mistaken belief that it makes them appear as objects of desire, then an unintentional show of the bra should not trigger anything.

I explained this idea of “freeing of the bra” to my mother recently as she gestured with her eyes one day at my peeking bra strap. She looked at me as if I’d grown horns and followed it up with the soft gasp she reserves for extreme distress. I’d become an unrecognisable creature from the good “bra-hiding” daughter she had raised.

I realised then perhaps the reason that the bra has come to be a trigger garment is not because men can’t deal with it, but because with all our hiding we haven’t really given them a chance to. The more they see bras casually integrated into the tapestry of regular life, the more it becomes part of the scenery rather than sticking out like a sore thumb.

So let’s bring the bra out. In all its lacy (or not) outrageous glory. Because let’s face it: It’s not lingerie that is the culprit. It’s the old cleavage between mind and matter.

(Source: Arre)

Ladies it's finally time to take off that bra... for good!

During the day many women are fantasizing about what they are going to do as soon as they get home. They are going to reach their hands up and under their shirts, and grab onto their… bra clasps! And rip their bras off! Letting their breasts be free! Unrestricted and able move around, jiggle and wiggle freely. This is such an amazing feeling of freedom, but it kind of makes me wonder, if bras are so uncomfortable, why do so many women wear them so often? Is this feeling of discomfort that results from wearing these restricting bras a sign from our bodies that we have been ignoring?

According to the American Cancer Society, there is absolutely no evidence that leads to the correlation between wearing a bra and contracting breast cancer. The apparent reasoning behind this stance is that no studies exist which show such a link, but they themselves have made no effort to disprove the theory either. However, several studies have been conducted which indeed show a correlation between wearing bras and the development of breast cancer.

Historically speaking, this attitude isn’t surprising. In the 1930’s there was “no link” between cigarette smoking and lung cancer either, in fact, doctors were still promoting cigarette smoking in the 1950’s. It wasn’t until 1964 that the American Cancer Society finally admitted that there was a direct link between them.

Of course, if they had established the link to cigarettes and cancer sooner, a pretty staggering amount of money would have been lost on the sale of cigarettes – and the treatment of cancer. Perhaps someday in the future, this will be the story of the bra, and people will say, “I can’t believe they didn’t realize that wearing bras contributed to breast cancer!’

Another noteworthy piece of information is that, much like the cancer industry, there is a huge bra industry as well. When you think about how many bras each woman is buying every year, this is a multi-billion dollar industry in the US alone.

Right now, we do not know for sure that wearing bras causes cancer, but at least we can look at some of the evidence, and from there make an informed decision for ourselves.

Evidence To Support The Claim
Wearing a bra can restrict and compress the extremely thin lymphatic vessels, which can lead to a buildup of toxic fluid which would otherwise be drained through this system. When these vessels are closed, less oxygen and nutrients are able to be delivered to the cells, and toxic waste materials are not being flushed away. Is it possible that this buildup of toxins is linked to fibrocystic cysts? Fibrocystic cysts are fluid filled sacks that can appear as hard lumps in the breasts, and medical research connects these cysts with increased risk of breast cancer.

In a study conducted by Syd and Soma Singer in May of 1991, 4,000 women in 5 major U.S. cities were interviewed. All of the women who were studied were of Caucasian descent and mostly of “medium income,” and their ages ranged from 30 to 79.

Almost half had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The majority of the women who were interviewed said that they were unhappy with the shape and size of their breasts and wore a bra solely to improve their appearance. 3 out of 4 of these women who wore their bras to sleep contracted breast cancer, and 1 in 7 women who wore their bras for more than 12 hours a day did too.

This study concluded that just 1 in 168 women who did not wear a bra contracted breast cancer, which is the same amount as men (who do not wear a bra. :P)

While keeping this in mind, what can you do to potentially minimize your risk of developing breast cancer?

Minimize Your Risk
For me personally, on a day-to-day basis I do not wear a bra. I haven’t for about 4 years now. However, I will wear one for certain occasions and depending on what I am wearing, but this is very minimal.

Up until about a year ago I had no idea of this potential link to breast cancer, but I stopped wearing one for the mere fact that it was extremely uncomfortable. I know a lot of women with big breasts are thinking that this just isn’t possible for them, but did you know that when you wear a bra all the time you are actually weakening the ligaments of the breasts?

If you keep your breasts free of support for a period of time, these ligaments will grow stronger and then your breasts will support themselves a bit better. A French study done by Professor Jean-Denis Roullion used calipers to measure changes in the breasts of 330 women over a 15-year period. He found that bras didn’t do anything that they were purported to do, and they didn’t alleviate back pain, but rather intensified it! Also, they didn’t do anything to prevent breast tissue from sagging. In his opinion the bra is a “false need.”

The findings of the study suggest that breasts would gain more tone and support themselves if no bra were used because, as researchers explain, bras limit the growth of supporting breast tissue, leaving the breast to wither and degrade quicker. Further, the study found that women who took off their bras experience an average of 7mm lift in their nipples from each year they didn’t wear a bra – amazing! An important thing to note is that Roullion suggests that if you are over the age of 45 not wearing a bra would do very little, if anything, to lift the breasts.

I do think that a huge reason why women wear bras is because of what society tells us that our breasts should look like. If they are small, we should wear really padded pushup bras to make them look bigger, and if they are large, we should wear really tight bras to make them appear smaller and less saggy. There are plenty of women whose breasts are so small that they wear a bra for literally no reason, only to make it appear as if they had larger breasts.

If only they knew the risk they were taking, all for aesthetic purposes. In society’s eye, all breasts should be completely round and perky, but let’s face it, for those women who still have natural breasts, this isn’t very likely. As of late, more and more people are adopting more natural habits and practices, and before we know it, natural shapely breasts will be back in style!

If you must wear a bra, consider buying ones that aren’t too tight and don’t have an underwire. Try to wear the bra for as short a time as possible, and give your breasts a good rub and massage after they’ve been released! By no means should you ever be sleeping in your bra. If you are worried about your nipples showing, maybe consider wearing a camisole under your shirt, but even if they do show, it’s not the end of the world.

(Source: CE)