Whether for reasons of convenience or conviction, more and more women have started to give up wearing bras in recent years. In doing so, they have become part of a movement that aims to give women back control over their bodies.
“I’ve been wearing a bra since I was ten years old because my breasts grew very early. On March 16, 2020, the lockdown was announced. On the 17th, I was without a bra, which I haven’t put on again since. It was natural. It’s freedom,” Amandine, who is in her twenties, told French Marie Claire.
Two other women in their twenties, Domitille and Aurore, who spoke to the magazine, also reported similar experiences.
“I first started going braless on weekends. I loved rediscovering my body, feeling my breasts moving and their weight again,” said Domitille.
“I’m a size 105E and I haven’t worn a bra since quarantine. Two months of being alone taught me to detach myself from other people’s gaze. If someone doesn’t like it, they can look away,” Aurore added.
The three women’s stories are not unique. According to surveys, 7% of French women over the age of 18 never or rarely wear a bra . Before the pandemic, this figure was only 3%. Moreover, this trend is even stronger among younger girls. According to data, 18% of those under 25 do not wear a bra at all.
But more mature women are also experimenting with going braless, as did 53-year-old Frédérique. “It started three years ago with menopause and the extra pounds. My bra was getting tighter and tighter. Then one day I asked my reflection in the mirror, ‘Why am I torturing myself?'”
According to reports, most of them, like Frédérique, switched because of discomfort. Sagging breasts, straps that cut into the skin, a size that was too small or too large. All of these are discomforts that most women have probably experienced while wearing a bra.
Are bras merely another constraint on the female body?
The question arises: Is the bra the corset of the 21st century, a crippler of the female body? Is it time we got rid of it?
When Herminie Cadolle invented the bra in 1889, it was a major advancement, almost revolutionary. Cadolle’s bra freed women from the constriction of uncomfortable and unhealthy corsets. Its two-piece design provided better support while allowing for greater freedom and comfort. The bra helped modernise the way women dressed and lived.
However, its existence has been repeatedly questioned in recent decades. One of the most famous such moments occurred on March 8, 1979, when Canadian feminists gathered at Toronto City Hall on International Women’s Day to draw attention to important social issues affecting women.
One of the most spectacular moments of the event was when women burned a bra, symbolising the struggle for women’s physical freedom and equality.
In the 1970s, women still bathed topless on French beaches, and Bianca Jagger made headlines for standing at the altar without a bra, her breasts bare under a snow-white Yves Saint-Laurent jacket. However, twenty years later, this great freedom ended once and for all.
The spread of push-up and underwire bras practically standardised women’s breasts: nipples became invisible, and full, round, high-shelved breasts became desirable. This phenomenon was metaphorically called recorsettisation by the French philosopher Camille Froidevaux-Metterie. Women’s bodies, and more precisely , breasts, were forced back into corsets in the interest of an idealised shape.
“Padded bras are necessary to ensure that breasts meet social and aesthetic expectations. Standardisation affects all ages and all social classes,” says the philosopher.
The No Bra Movement aims to free women from the social and comfort constraints of wearing a bra. The movement builds on the emphasis on women’s right to choose, supporting the right of every woman to freely decide whether or not to wear a bra, without feeling ashamed or conforming to social expectations. It aims to transform the social discourse about women’s bodies and to empower women’s physical and emotional freedom.
The physical benefits of going braless
In the 2010s, more change spread, which was also strengthened by feminist initiatives such as the Free the Nipple movement in 2012 and the #NoBraChallenge in 2018. Simultaneously, serious studies began to question the usefulness of the bra.
In 2013, Jean-Denis Rouillon, a professor at the University Hospital of Besançon, published a groundbreaking study. He followed 330 women between the ages of 18 and 35 for fifteen years and concluded that exposed breasts become firmer over time, thanks to the natural strengthening of muscle tissue.
Going braless can also have beneficial physical effects, according to everyday experience: many young women report, for example, that they not only feel more comfortable without a bra, but their posture also improves.
“I feel like my breasts are firmer now that I’ve stopped wearing a bra,” Laurie, 35, told French magazine Marie Claire. “Having my skin exposed makes me feel more gentle with myself. It feels like floating naked in the water,” added Lila, 29.
But despite the positive experiences, this does not mean that going braless will become more common in a short time. Although, like the clothing industry as a whole, the lingerie market has started to decline in recent years – by 5% in 2018, according to a 2019 study by IFM – the masses of women still insist on wearing bras.
For many, a bra is not only a necessity but also a source of pleasure.
“I’m 95C,” says 50-year-old Bénédicte. “Because of my slightly saggy, pear-shaped breasts, a bra is essential. It gives a nicer shape, and without it, my back hurts.” By her own admission, although she tried the no-bra lifestyle when she was younger, she only experienced its downsides. “My skin sagged and stretch marks appeared on my breasts,” she recalls.
However, the main obstacle to abandoning the bra is not physical or aesthetic problems. Rather, it is the social and cultural interpretations associated with women’s breasts that have been deeply embedded in the collective consciousness over the centuries.
The female breast as an object of desire
The objectification of women’s bodies has been part of patriarchal society for centuries, from art to advertising to everyday life: we tend to treat women as commodities whose main – or only – value is their appearance. As a result, we have reached a point where women’s breasts seem to have permanently lost their primary function (nourishment) in the eyes of society.
Instead, they have become completely oversexualised commodities.
Women’s breasts are so closely associated with sexuality in people’s minds that social expectations make it almost mandatory for women to wear a bra – because it “fits” into the norms of femininity.
The picture is further complicated by the fact that while women’s breasts are taboo and controlled in everyday life, the advertising industry uses this forbidden, sexualised image to attract attention and encourage consumption, by trying to sell us practically everything from lawnmowers to alcoholic beverages to screwdrivers with breasts shoved in our faces.
This absurd double standard has evolved from a peculiar mix of social norms and capitalism.
And what about men and their exposed breasts? Nothing at all. Men can freely walk around the streets with their upper bodies uncovered. Their breasts are considered much more natural and ordinary by society.
Male and female breasts – is there a difference?
Women’s breasts are actually not that different from men’s. At birth, both sexes’ breasts are completely identical, until hormones released during puberty cause women’s breasts to become more rounded. But this is not a rule set in stone, as we know that many women have small breasts and many men have large ones.
Whether it’s a man’s or a woman’s breast, both are made up of tissue, fat, muscle, and mammary glands, with a similar number of nerve endings and the same “erectile capacity.” Men’s nipples are just as erogenous zones as women’s, and throughout history, there have been instances of men’s nipples leaking milk.
Perhaps most interestingly, however, is that once a small piece of clothing (such as a patch or a bikini top) covers the nipple, the female breast itself suddenly becomes much less “problematic.” It’s as if society doesn’t consider the female breast itself taboo, but rather the nipples.
“Having your nipples visible through a T-shirt is very frowned upon in our society,” says Pauline, who finds it easier to go braless in winter. “The breast, because of its dual meaning – nourishing and erotic – has become a part of the body that must be hidden from view,” philosopher Camille Froidevaux-Metterie explains to the French magazine.
This sexist double standard regarding women’s breasts and nipples was also highlighted in a recent survey conducted by the international polling firm Ifop. 48% of respondents believed that women without bras were more likely to be victims of harassment or even assault.
Moreover, 20% believe that the fact that a woman’s nipples are visible from under her top should be a mitigating factor, even for the attacker, in the event of sexual assault.
Going braless: The decision is in our hands.
“Freedom also has its limits, but this does not diminish the significance of the movement,” the philosopher states, adding: “We are currently part of an intense dynamic, also amplified through social media, in which women are reclaiming control over their bodies in all aspects.”
It takes a lot of strength and determination to dare to go against social norms and female socialisation. But even if we can’t get rid of the habit and the bras that cut into our flesh overnight, it can be liberating to look for more natural, comfortable, and less uniformed alternatives to push-ups.
Fortunately, the possibilities are endless: perhaps thanks to the no-bra movement, non-wired triangle bras, tops, and nipple covers have become popular again in recent years.
This article was originally published by Eniko Botas on the Marie Claire Hungary Website.
Translated and syndicated for Marie Claire Nigeria by Tobi Afolabi
