Sometimes I go through weird phases where I make big decisions based on what I am going through. For example, last year I made the decision to stop shaving my armpits. This decision was made purely out of laziness. I had forgotten to shave my armpits for a solid week when my friend, Amanda, confronted me about it.
She said, “Damn girl, you got some long red hairs coming out of those pits.”
This was the first time I was actually conscious of the fact that, for some reason, society wants women to pretend they’re hairless. That’s ridiculous. Having hairy armpits didn’t cause me discomfort so why had I been shaving them for the last seven years? It was because I had feared getting ridiculed by my peers.
I realized that in order to be comfortable in my own skin, I needed to stop letting childish ridicule dictate my actions, so that’s what I did (not immediately; these things take time).
Since then, and most recently, I have decided to get rid of my bras. This decision was not made without serious deliberation. This decision too was from a mild case of laziness (I promise I’m not a lazy person).
My last bra had deteriorated in the dryer and I didn’t have the money to go buy a nice bra. So I decided to go without it and you know what? My boobs loved not being in boob jail. My nipples were noticeable but I felt so free.
I thought, “this is what it must feel like to be a topless guy throwing a football at the park, just letting the breeze dance on their nipples.” When a guy is topless it’s hot, but God forbid I don’t wear a bra; I get asked to put my feminine breasts away because I’m ‘scarring people’s children.’
In reality, we should all be braless and or topless all the time. Research has my back. An article on Bustle suggests that bras can make breasts sag prematurely. Bras compromise breast tissue, cut off circulation and weaken muscles around your boobs.
According to a long-running French study, weakening the muscles around your breasts can cause your breasts to become saggy and lose their shape.
This should also be obvious, but wearing tight clothing frequently limits circulation. Bad circulation has been known to cause cardiovascular issues.
The same study also revealed that when you get rid of all that uncomfortable wiring, breathing functions improve.
The most obvious upside to not wearing bras is saving money. I refuse to spend more than $14 on a bra, but I have friends that spend close to $50 per bra. It is absurd that something that can only be described as a booby trap, would cost that much money.
Not to say that your boobs will be doomed if you do wear a bra, but I quite enjoy not wearing a bra, regardless of all the people making eye contact with my nipples.
I hope that someday we live in a world where people aren’t judging one another by their nipples. Research backs it up, as do I, so why not let your nipple flag fly?
