Sunday, August 15, 2010

To Bra, Or Not To Bra, That Is The Question

My oldest, dearest friend and I wouldn't seem to have enough in common to be as good friends as we are.  We are quite different, in fact.  She is tall(er), I am barely taller than someone who would be called a 'little person.' She has always been quite thin, I have always struggled with weight.  She doesn't cook very often and I was always 'Suzy Homemaker.'  She struggled a little with school work and it always came pretty easy to me.  She was a 'wild child' in high school and I was the 'perfect, good girl'--or tried to be.  She is the youngest child, I am the oldest.  She gets periodic Botox injections and I have never seriously considered doing anything cosmetically to make myself appear younger.  (Full disclosure:  I color my hair.  NOT so much to cover the grey--of which mine is NOT pretty--but to keep me blond.  Blond just looks better with my skin tones.)  She was more athletic and I was always "WHY would I get off of the couch when I have a book to read?"  And the difference we discuss on a semi-regular basis, our boobs.  Her girls look like fried eggs on a flat plate.  Mine would do a nice job of filling a champagne glass when I was in high school--these days, after my weight gain, I am more in the "Lady, put those things away!  You're going to put someone's eye out!!!" category.  But we agree on one thing:  the SECOND we walk into the house, we shed our bras.  Home=bra-freedom to the two of us.

Last week during one of our conversations, we started talking about how much we hated to wear bras.  It isn't just a dislike for either of us, it is as if we are being tortured whenever we have to wear the contraptions.  Out daughters don't seem to have the same dislike that we do, however.  My Oldest barely takes hers off whenever she showers--that's how much she wears one.  Of course, she is quite well-endowed and pregnant, but that isn't/wasn't any different when she isn't pregnant or when she was young.  My Youngest--and my friend's daughter--don't have quite so much to cover, but neither one of them would ever dream of NOT wearing a bra.  And this got us to thinking:  Is the hatred of bras generation-specific?  We both know of others in our age-group who hate the OSBH (over shoulder boulder holder) as much as we do, so we wondered if it had anything to do with the time period we grew up in.  We were part of the 'burn the bra' generation and threw ours away when everyone else did--and we never got back to wearing bras until we were told we HAVE to when we got pregnant.  So this is the question:  Do most/all women despise wearing bras or was the 'burn the bra' generation just trained to hate them?  What do you all have to say?

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:36 AM

    well, I was still young when the bra-burning happened. All I can say is I hate the hooks digging into my back, the straps sliding off or digging into my shoulders-and I've ranted before about the trend for the strap adjusters being put in the back rather than the front, so you have to take the damn thing off in order to adjust it. And since I sweat a lot, I tend to get a rash under my boobs which isn't helped by a wet bra rubbing there. This hot weather meant I stayed home more, which meant I was bra-free a lot more than usual. One day last week I took Spot for our regular walk and it took about five minutes for me to realize I forgot to put on my bra, and another couple of seconds to decide I didn't care. (That doesn't mean I'll regularly swing free in public now.) What was I supposed to do-gasp, cover my chest with my arms and hurry home to put one on?

    Like you and your friend, I whip my bra off as soon as I get in the door. One of my blog friends, Holly, has said she's whipped hers off in her car on more than one occasion. Maybe it has to do with the fit, but maybe us bra-haters just like to be comfy.

    Speaking of preferences, I hate turtleneck shirts because they feel like they're strangling me. Since I don't have a swan neck like Audrey Hepburn, it might be my thick neck that's the problem, but some people seem to be comforted by the warmth a close-fitting turtleneck provides. I'd rather risk a chest cold than be constantly tugging at my neck.

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  2. As an a-and-a-half girl, I don't mind wearing one, but there are days when I don't. Although it is a bit uncomfortable not to these days ifyaknowwhatimean. Flop flop flop.

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  3. I agree that the bra-hating is because we like to be comfortable, but this doesn't explain the generation before us or after us and their clinging to their bras like they do. That just doesn't compute for me. :)

    TURTLENECKS! I just got into that with a Twitter friend last night. I used to like them, but I can't stand them anymore--I feel as if I'm choking when I have one on, too. I used to wear them quite a bit, but when my thyroid went off-whack, I quit being able to wear them. Crew necks are about the highest necklines I can handle. I think a bit of claustrophobia has set in. ;)

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  4. kristi: The flops are why I don't run as exercise! :D

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  5. Anonymous6:58 PM

    CMK-the only reason I'd run is to get away from a killer, or if Spot got loose. Either way, I wouldn't care if I flopped. ;-)

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  6. I have struggled with bra issues my whole life. I hate them with my whole heart. But, I have to wear one or else my back hurts!

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  7. Janet: The only reason I wouldn't run is because I'm afraid I'd wind up with two black eyes. :D

    meleah: I always thought my hatred for bras was because I am endowed--and I can't get bras without underwires in my size. However, my friend doesn't need an underwire and she hates them just as much. I'm just happy I actually can go without when I'm at home--I don't have higher back issues.

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  8. You're lucky you can 'roam-free' at home! I keep mine tucked into a sports bra even when Im sleeping!

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  9. Other than it being a comfort issue, I realized that one reason some don't go without is the fact there are too many people around! If I wasn't an empty-nester and had kids/others running in and out all of the time, I don't think I'd be swinging free quite as often as I do now.

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  10. Anonymous9:10 AM

    Remember the old National Geographics and the photos of native women without shirts, let alone bras, whose boobs were hanging down to their navels?

    I'm not entirely sure that wearing a bra is going to prevent navel-brushing droopage in the long run. I think bras are more for not offending the sensibilities of unsuspecting people who we encounter.

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  11. janet: I have to agree about that one. I think genetics works a whole lot more when it comes to whether you droop or not. And it seems as if size doesn't keep you from drooping, either--my friend says SHE droops. Well, the little she has does, anyway ;).

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