The pros and cons of wearing a bra

Should I waear a bra? Why should you wear a bra? Is wearing a bra unhealthy? What are the disadvantages of wearing a bra?
In the below article you will get answers on these questions and more. This piece is all about wearing (or not to wear) bras. In today's society, wearing a bra is one of the most common things to do for women from the moment onwards that the breasts start to develop. Almost 90% of all Western women wear a bra on a daily basis, and more than 45% wears them during hibernating. Why is it good to wear a bra? I will give you a good number of reasons why, or why not to wear a bra a little later on, but let me first start off with a little background info.


History of the bra - How the bra evolved from a piece of cloth to a sexy accessory

The corset

There's not like a lot of solid evidence of bra-like garments that could be considered early bras before the 1900's. From ancient history recordings we know that there are quite a lot of mentions of "strips of cloth" that would be tied under a woman's breasts to support and reveal the buste. We also know of a strip of cloth that is instead tied around the boobs to flatten them. Two particular garments dating back to the 1400's and resembling modern bras have been retrieved from a medieval Autrian castle. A little later, the corset became enormously popular in the 16th century as a waist, bust and him shaper garment, and by the time we reached the end of the 18th century, the trend had evolved into a garment that solely functioned to lift and shape breasts up. The modern-day bra with the distinctive double separated cups has been gradually developed over time, from the corset in the early 1900's in an attempt to create a more useful and comfortable piece of underwear and breast support. Nowadays, the bra (including the bikini-top) has advanced from simple undergarment into a modern, sexy and in many cases even "sexual" accessory that clearly emphasizes the sexual nature of breasts.

Do I need a bra? - Advantages and disadvangtages of wearing a bra
Do you feel comfortable wearing a bra? This is very personal and whether a bra is comfortable for a particular person also depends on, for instance, breast cup size and lifestyle habits. Large and heavy breasts usually require a woman to wear a bra to support their boobs. Many women with a breast cup size of D-36 or larger report pain and discomfort when they don't wear a bra. Women with smaller or medium sized breasts (breast cup size up to C-32) do not neccesarily require to wear a bra in order to move around comfortably, however if you are one of these women and you are used to wearing bras, you probably feel a bit offset without. And given the fact that bras in many cases improves the look of your boobs to the outside world, you may still want to consider wearing a bra when you go outside. 

Overall though, this is mainly a psychological thing and a matter of habit. Most Western women tend to feel slightly awkward or selfinsecure without wearing a bra. In fact, when women get used to automatically wearing a bra, it is very common to not even notice or not paying any attention to the usual slight discomfort that bras give them. Take a brief moment to think about this... Do you feel any discomfort or tightness when you wear a bra? When you take your bra off (maybe you could do it now), do you feel a bit like when you have eaten your belly full at dinner, and then you loosen your belt a one or two notches? Can you see those small red marks on your skin after taking off you bra? If you answer yes to these questions, your boobs may very well be trying to tell you something!

Reasons why women wear a bra
Below are a few, seemingly genuine reasons most women give to support their habit of wearing a bra, see whether you find yourself in one or more of these reasons: 

I wear a bra because my breasts need to be supported? Actually, this is largely a myth... wearing a bra is not a medical necessity whatsoever

Dr. Susan M. Love, MD

This says Susan M. Love MD. It is similar to another myth stating that women are supposed to need corsets to support their stomach muscles. Nowadays, some women with big breasts may need the extra support from a bra. Running, athletics and other active sports may become painful even for women with medius sized boobs. That is, however, a very individual thing, so do whatever is comfortable for you.

In one particular study,women with larger ssized breasts were asked to remove the weight of breasts on their shoulders for two consecutive weeks. This was done either by going fully braless or by wearing a strapless bra instead. Interestingly, out of the entire group of 22, only one woman chose a strapless bra and all the others chose to wear no bra at all. The researchers then closely monitored the women to detect any muscle pain and overall tenderness. 95% percent of the women decided to eliminate the breast weight from their shoulders permanently because it rcaused them to live totally symptom free!

Calvin Klein strapless bra

If you choose to and / or need to wear a bra, then it would be good to select one that has the right fitting. Make sure to be especially careful when it comes to the underwires and side panels! Why? If the fit is not perfectly right, the underwire can continuisly irritate the soft tissue of your breasts and the side panels of the bra will very likely create an increased pressure as well as tightness. Do consider getting a bra fitted with a professional fitter. Also, give your broobs some "off time". Taking off your bra whenever you can, such as when you're at home and at the very least do not wear it during sleeping time. 

While a bra does give your breasts support, they certainly do not. ultimately, prevent your breasts from sagging. The force of gravity will eventually take its effect, no matter what. TTo tell you something you probably didn't know... There is evidence that wearing a bra can even INCREASE sagging of your breasts! Prof. Jean Denis Rouillon did a study among 330 volunteer women aged between 18 and 35 for a duration of 15 years. Their breasts were carefully measured by using a slide ruler and a caliper, and the changes throughout his study were kept in a database. Those women who didn't wear bras showed a 7 millimeter lift, measured from their nipples EACH YEAR. 

More tips and tricks on
howto make your
breasts firm and
perky, naturally

Their breasts were also much firmer, and they showed no signs of any stretch mark! One very plausable reason for this... The breast has ligaments, and since ligaments can atrophy when not used,  the constant "artificial" support from a bra, results therefor in an increased sagginess of the breasts. Another reason for bra-wearing to increase sagginess is that when a woman wears a bra that is not fitted correctly, the bra forces some of the soft breast tissue to "migrate", resulting in differently shaped boobs than if they were to be naturally.

I wear a bra because I feel immoral / indecent without it

Breasts against war,
which is more indecent?

This assumption, however normal it may seem, is in fact in a strange contrast to the sexual nature of the bra. Although many women try to accentuate the sexuality of their breasts with a bra, equally many women also feel that bras are kind of a necessary "covering" for their breasts. Is decency and morality really dependent on the type of underwear you wear, or whether or not you wear a bra underneath your clothes? Women who feel that way commonly have become to believe that their breasts are somehow "dirty" body parts that need to be "tucked away" and hidden from sight; and bras took on that role to become the means of doing just that! If for a moment we consider breasts to be baby feeders (which is their primary task), and then realizing that breasts do NOT NECCESARILY have to be considered a sexual body part (unlike your genitals) you can liberate yourself from the related a mental "bondage" which implies that breasts are not decent, immoral and / or obscene.


Barbara van der W.:

Many people argue that bras make the body look leaner, that's what our society has taught us, that there is something a bit disgusting or wrong about breasts that aren't all tied-up. And when that sort of thinking has been pumped into your brain since day zero it is quite obviously a challenge to overcome. I truly hope that  one day we as a society will become to realize just how silly it actually is to believe that breasts should be bound in order for them to be beautiful or normal. It is silly in the same way as the old Chinese tradition of binding women's feet.

I wear a bra because everybody does, in other words the unspoken rules of society

This is one of the most common reasons for younger women / teens to wear bras, and in many situations they do want to comform to modern society's dress code. However, if everybody thinks like that we all keep chasing the loophole, and nothing will ever change. If you have good reasons tp wear a bra, then there really is nothing wrong with doing so. But if you simply do so because everybody does and society expects you to do so... then you might want to think again.

  I wear bras because I need to wear them for my job, it's the dress code
This may be true (although “dress code is not legally binding in most countries, unless it states so specifically in your contract), however, those women who would rather not wear a bra for whatever reason, still have some options even at their workplace:

A camisole top as alternative
to weariung a bra

• You could try a camisole / vest.  A good camisole made from elastic material will give some kind of similar support to your boobs, so they don't bounce all over the place, and you may be surprised to see how little people notice you are actually not wearing a bra! Furthermore, most companies that require female staff to wear a bra may not have a policy that specifically defines what a bra is. And that is something you could perfectly and legally exploit! Certian cropped camisoles look very similar to bras. Some camisoles even come with adjustable straps just like a bra. Basically, if it looks professional, it should be fine.
• Try some other alternatives for bra, such as bra cups that are worn inside the clothing or even strapless bras
• You could even take your chances and try to change the company's policy by convincing the people in charge of the benefits for women to not wear a bra.