speaking of busty.......talk about bras

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Registered: 10-13-2004
speaking of busty.......talk about bras
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Thu, 10-14-2004 - 7:50pm
I'm only a B cup, and gravity is yet to take it's toll - so I don't need a bra. It also so happens that I find them extremely uncomfortable, so I only wear one if my nips are likely to show or the dress really needs some defining shape underneath.

However, I've also read posts where going braless is deemed to be overly sexual. Why is this? Comfort is the only thing in my mind when not bothering with a bra. If anything, I find that a bra - and the defining shape it gives - is way more sexy than slobbing around in no bra.

Thoughts anyone?

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Avatar for sugarbeat
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 10-14-2004 - 8:15pm
It's the nipple effect and any bounce (if there is any) that makes going without a bra sexualized. Nipples can be sensitive to fabric moving over them and can perk up as a result, a bra limits that because it keep a layer of non swaying fabric over the nipple and just keeps the boob in place and not moving so much. Also if it is noticeable that there is no bra, your mind just goes to the fact that there is one less article of clothing to remove to get that person naked.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 10-14-2004 - 8:36pm
Funny, I'm a b-cup too and I wear a bra only *because* it's more comfortable. Of course, my breasts are usually fairly tender so I feel the movement and it can hurt without one. But I do find bras to be very comfortable. Also, they just make me feel sexy -- sometimes even more so than being naked. Bras are something reserved for women alone

In terms of public opinion? Well women certainly didn't wear bras in the early part of the century... when I think of bra invention, I think of uptight sexuality of the 50s, pre 60s/70s revolution :) Plus bras de-shap-ify the point of the breast, which is also de-sexifying. (Guys certainly don't have perky nipples!) More clothes, less shape, less sexuality. America is a puritanical place.

Anybody know when the bra was invented?

If you're not from the USA, is your culture more open to bra-less-ness?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-08-2004
Thu, 10-14-2004 - 8:53pm
History of the Bra.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-16-2003
Fri, 10-15-2004 - 3:17pm
I was born and raised in Finland and no one really cares whether a woman wears a bra or not, if someone can see a woman's nipple "poking" through the shirt, so what?...it just seriously isn't a big deal.

Also, we are more liberal in the sense that women breast feed their children in public. No they dont have their nipples hanging out, but what is the big deal if someone can see a tiny bit of skin, it isn't like their breats are out. People in the U.S. make a huge deal about women breast feeding their children. It is 100 times better to give your child real milk instead of the fake formula women feed their babies in public...Scandinavians in general are not so limited when it comes to sexuality, as in the U.S. people tend to be.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-13-2004
Fri, 10-15-2004 - 9:30pm
>>they just make me feel sexy -- sometimes even more so than being naked. Bras are something reserved for women alone <<

Exactly my point....if I want to be sexy, I'll wear a bra.

>>More clothes, less shape, less sexuality.<<

You know, I'm sounding like a 60's bra-burning feminist here, but it's sad that even today, women feel the need to bind their bodies so that no hint of movement or form is shown. Have we really progressed past corsets?

However, I have also noticed comments about women wearing jeans so low that they have to shave their pubic hair. Funnily enough, I remember a post where a woman was upset that a braless friend was chatting/flirting with her boyfriend - however the same poster used to discuss wearing clothes that required shaved pubic hair. To me, this seems like an amazing double standard. She thought that it was OK to show extreme amounts of flesh, but heaven forbid anyone go braless. Go figure.

>>If you're not from the USA, is your culture more open to bra-less-ness?<<

No, I'm not from the USA - which is probably why I get confused by some attitudes on this board. Going braless here (in Australia) is not that common - but I don't feel that it raises eyebrows or suspicion either. Or at least, no one's ever commented on my bralessness ;-)

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Avatar for katmandoo2001
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 10-18-2004 - 5:22pm
I find going braless very uncomfortable and I'm not big breasted either...I'm a C cup, but after having children and nursing, I need the support. I don't wear a bra to bed but rarely go without one any other time. And my feeling is, why help gravity? LOL!

On the other hand....my DH likes for me to go braless because everthing's more visible, the bounce is more obvious and they're accessible.


Edited 10/18/2004 5:25 pm ET ET by katmandoo2001

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Registered: 04-23-2004
Mon, 10-18-2004 - 5:55pm
<<>>

bounxh0a-1.gif picture by dillbyrd

Avatar for katmandoo2001
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 10-18-2004 - 6:25pm
I think you're making a huge generalization about Americans and sexuality. Never a good idea. I breastfed both my children, as did most of my friends, and I never felt uncomfortable or pressured to hide what I was doing, so I don't know what you're talking about. Most women do breastfeed unless they are unable to do so for some reason.

And while some of the puritanical background of our history is still evident here and there, I don't think anyone could say that Americans are "afraid of a tiny bit of skin showing." LOL! At least, that's not my experience!

And I've actually read a poll that stated that Scandinavians view sex more as exercise than an intimate expression of love or desire. Is that true?


Edited 10/19/2004 2:08 am ET ET by katmandoo2001

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2004
Mon, 10-18-2004 - 10:09pm

The "real" question is whether or not people would get offended if a woman fully exposed her breast while breastfeeding. Is it possible that people could view the breast in two contexts? Is it possible that people would not view a woman breastfeeding as anything sexual whether she exposes her whole breast or not?

A good link about the how it's viewed world-wide, as well as a small-insert pic of a woman feeding full-breasted.

http://www.007b.com/public-breastfeeding-world.php

another pic

http://www.007b.com/breastfeeding_public.php




Edited 10/18/2004 11:06 pm ET ET by root_of_all_evil
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2004
Mon, 10-18-2004 - 10:25pm
I don't really believe that it's welcome although it may be tolerated, because even the bathrooms in the mall don't have any accommodations for nursing mother(s). They do have changing tables though. No, I can't say that it's a natural occurrence anywhere. I haven't seen a woman breastfeeding in public in years, whereas in the 80's when I was, I at least saw a few. Funny, but I thought that twenty-fve years later, we'd be seeing full breast breastfeeding and, slews of women out in public doing it...how wrong I was.

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