Tuesday 30 August 2011

Bra's


I was doing some reading last night on the history and purpose of bras and was honestly quite surprised at what I found out.

My introduction into the world of bra wearing was probably pretty normal.  I began to develop and my mum took me shopping (to BHS ) and bought me my first 2 bras.  They were more crop tops than bras and at size 32 AA offered no real support.  To me and probably my mum it was just what you did once you began to grow breasts.

After reading last night I discovered that bras are a CHOICE not a necessity.  Maybe to the much larger breasted woman they offer some welcome support, but on the whole they do nothing but force our breasts into what we deem is the most desirable shape for the duration we wear it.

Studies into bra wearing and cancer have also shown that women who wear a bra for 24 hours a day and at a significantly higher risk of developing breast cancer, with underwired bras being the main culprits.  As I understand it any toxins or chemicals we ingest are stored in our body fat tissue, breasts have a large amount of such tissue surrounding the milk ducts etc, the natural bounce and wiggle of breasts aids the lymph nodes in ridding the body of such toxins, wearing a bra that is too tight or cuts in reduces wiggle and bounce rendering the body unable to rid itself of these toxins as effectively, build up of toxins can cause cancer.  So the bras themselves don't cause cancer but they can be the catalyst for it.

To be honest I'm not sure I want to wear something that could end up causing me to have cancer.  I make decisions not to do other things (such as smoking) for many reasons one of which is that it can cause Cancer so why should I continue to wear something that could give me something I would go to great lengths to avoid.

Firstly I thought about my reasons for wearing a bra which consisted of -:

1. I do like my breasts to point forwards rather than towards my toes.
2. I don't like my nipples being visible through my clothing.
3. I'm not keen on how much they bounce when I run or jump ( because we all know how much I do that) as it can become uncomfortable.
4. It keeps my nipples warm as I suffer from Reynaud's of the nipple.
5. I feel it is socially unacceptable to go without a bra.

Thinking about all of these things I have decided to go for plain cotton non underwired bra, for when I am going out or doing exercise or generally feel uncomfortable doing without.  The rest of the time I am leaning towards a cami style vest for warmth and the nipple visibility issue.

With regards to number 1. I am hoping that as my body adjusts to doing without the support it has grown used too the muscles/ligaments that support the breasts will get stronger and they will start to point forwards again.  I am also hoping that it will encourage me to stand up straight more at this will also help with the directionality issue.

I'll keep you posted on how I go.

1 comment:

  1. Really interesting post! And something I've been *meaning* to look into further for ages. How are you getting on?

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