The Bra: A Love-Hate Relationship

I got my first Victoria's Secret bra when I was 20 years old. All my previous bras had nothing on it - it was cushy, attractive and comfortable. It made me fifty dollars poorer, but I was hooked and bought several more over the next few months. Wearing these bras made my tops sit more sensually on my body. Not only did they make my bust look nicer, but they accentuated the curve of my butt and made my waist look smaller. It was pure magic in design. To this day I still love to wear them, but on some level I do wonder if that's the social conditioning programmed in me.

I'm aware that several groups condemn to use of bras, and not surprisingly, these same groups advocate freedom in some form or another. Such groups also like to criticize high heels and cosmetics. I'm well aware of the logic of their arguments, but at the same time, I'm rather partial to looking pretty. Such a dilemma.

Take feminists, for example. While I don't necessarily agree with their tendency to slam men or take offense at every perceived slight, I do firmly believe in the power of the feminine. But if standing for women's rights also means I have to burn my bras and never wear lipstick again, I'm not so sure I'd be on board with that. To the feminist, the bra is a symbol of man's desire to stifle a woman's power, to restrain her and mold her into an object meant for satisfying his carnal needs and nothing more. But I'm not so sure I buy into the idea that simply because I wear a bra, a man will see me as a sexual toy and that's it. I like to appeal to the other sex on all levels, including physically. Is that a feminist crime?

Another group that opposes bras is the primal health movement, including my own fellow yogis and raw vegans. Many of them think of bras as restraint devices, a barrier meant to isolate a woman from her true wild nature. On top of that, many of them also believe that bras cause breast cancer. Their argument is that the tightness of the bra interferes with lymphatic drainage and blood flow, making it difficult for toxins to be released from the breast tissue. Some also believe that bras are responsible for some women's failure to produce milk, arguing that the compression of the breasts since puberty has not allowed the mammary glands to develop properly.

I have absolutely no idea if these arguments have any validity; it's doubtful that sufficient studies have been conducted to prove or disprove them. What I do know is, if I try to work out without wearing some kind of bra - and healthy people love to work out - I'll probably be very sore from the "bouncing" within a matter of minutes. The fact of the matter is, I don't feel restricted simply because I prefer to wear a bra. And until somebody offers me some scientific proof that I'm slowly giving myself breast cancer, I'm most likely going to continue wearing them. As I suspect most women will. After all, when it comes down to it, it's just a bra.