The Bra

By: Sajwa Pasha

The Bra: A Herstory

The bra, an item we all know and love (sorta…not really), is simply a modern manifestation of the corset. While that fact may not be too surprising considering the restrictive similarities between the two, the reason for the transition might. It was not because women got tired of wearing corsets and chose to take a stand, rather the end of the corsets came in tune to the patriarchal agenda just as its beginning did. As the men ran off to shoot guns and show off the brute strength of the nation during World War I, the demand for metal quickly outpaced the supply and it was from the women they sought to take (Pandinka). Now, bullets and tanks were more important than women’s responsibility to pleasure restless men’s eyes with a curvaceous

aesthetic. So, in 1917, women were told to abandon their corset shopping so that the men may make use of the extra metal (Pandinka). However, the girls' bodies couldn't possibly be allowed freedom, they simply traded one metal wire cage for another as right around the same time the first modern bra emerged.

The first ever bra could be attributed to ancient Greece where women simply wrapped cloth tightly against their chest. While the first corsets emerged in the 1500s and quickly became mandatory for society's most ‘civilized’ constituents. The first modern bra, however, as shown in the image above, was patented by Caresse Crosby in 1914 in the United States. She began by sewing together and wearing her creation to a debutante ball and the others, light headed in their stiff corsets (a steady fashion requirement for wealthy families), saw with which freedom she moved about the dance floor and cornered her into revealing her secret. Once she showed them her fancy-shmancy brasserie, they all begged for her to sew them one as well. Soon after Crosby had a bustling business and while she tried to sew and sell them on her own she was eventually coerced by her husband into selling her patent to Warny Bros Corset Co. for $1500. By the time the war ended in 1918, corsets had lost much of their popularity. All it took was the next world war and yet another accompanying metal shortage, and girls in corsets were a rare sight. The bra had taken center stage. (Pandinka)

Bra Culture

Enter the 21st century. The bra has become a staple in women's lives. It is a right of passage that many young girls eagerly await. It is a statement of maturity, of femininity, of sexuality. Many women feel the bra gives them a sense of security and a renewed confidence. But what the bra does not give, is freedom. The bra is just as restrictive as the corset ever was and while many recognized the unrelenting constraints of the corset as it crushed their ribcage making even the tiniest of breaths difficult, the ills of the bra are not quite as obvious. This is largely due to the fact that in comparison with the corset, the bra was viewed as an upgrade to be grateful for. Also, the alluring way in which the bra is marketed produces an excitement around attaining it. The bra is seen as a way for girls to distance themselves from childhood, placing them a step closer to the coveted adult autonomy. The “bra talk” and bra shopping facilitates bonding between women or older girls and younger girls as they begin to develop. This gives girls a cozy feeling of inclusion into the sacred bra wearing club. So instead of seeing the bra as restrictive, girls are socialized into viewing it as a pathway to freedom, something to celebrate and even something to envy.

The glamor of the bra is so enticing that it has become a source of strife amongst young girls. Those who develop first are envied by other girls. It often gives early developers superiority over the late bloomers, as they look to these developed girls as bearers of otherworldly wisdom. If a girl doesn't not develop as quickly as her peers she may be subject to body shaming. This may cause her to become insecure; anxious to match the pace of her friends.

Bra brands, such as PINK who market to girls do not make this competitiveness any easier. PINK, being the girl companion to popular lingerie company Victoria’s Secret, has a fad surrounding its paraphernalia. It makes girls feel that by wearing PINK bras they finally within grasp of the tentalizing air of sexual maturity and conventional attractiveness that is emphasized by Victoria secret models and even PINK models themselves, despite it being for girls. So girls who strut PINK clothing, with their PINK slides, PINK bookbag and matching PINK water bottle, are waving a flag shy-high that they too are amongst the elite bra wearers. By displaying their PINK wear they are shouting that they are mature enough to shop in a bra store, a lingerie store adjacent, that generously shares some of its lure with the wearer.

B Cup Bra Girls

The problem with PINK popularity is that PINK only emphasizes certain bra wearers. The models, workers, and mannequins are often of the same shape and size: thin, barely there curves, and sporting a B cup. The sizing of the clothing and bras within the store simply do not accommodate larger girls, girls who require more than a 40D and an XL sweatshirt. PINK is simply following behind all other girl- centered stores. These stores purposefully cater to only one girl, the thin white middle class can-do girl, perpetuating the narrative that only one type of girl, this type of girl is acceptable, and rejecting all others (Harris). It is these girls that are valued in society. It is the Cher’s and Regina’s of the world who not only have the most spending power, but are also the most influential on girls' culture as a whole because these are the girls that all other girls model themselves after and trip over themselves to get close to and marketers flaunt this dynamic to their advantage.

While many see the bra an exciting transition into womanhood, they only see the dominant narrative fed to them. For many coming into and wearing a bra is a large source of discomfort, embarrassment, and even outright shaming. What many fail to realize is that the bra is only celebrated on some, while brutally criticized on others. Girls who fail to mold perfectly into the cookie cutter outline upheld by society are quickly victimized by their peers, teachers, and even family members. Girls can begin puberty at the ripe age of 8 or even earlier, ages that none would attribute to adulthood, yet as their bodies begin to develop those who fail to retain a ‘girlish’ figure, who attain voluptuous curves, are seen as adults and instantly sexualized even before menarche.

This is especially true for girls of color, who in their 20s may be told they were blessed by their genetics, while in their teens they felt to be nothing short of a curse. They are harassed by boys and men alike, and constantly ridiculed for wearing clothing that is accepted on thinner girls. These girls receive more discipline in schools not only for dress code, but also because they are held to a higher standard of behavior, an adult’s standard of behavior (Carter Andrews).

While others' mistakes are viewed as childish immaturity or teenage angst, they are seen as willfully disobedient because they should know better and are harshly and swiftly punished (Carter Andrews). Girls who reach for a bra ‘too early’ are viewed negatively by adults as though they are attempting to grow up too fast and should remain in a ‘child's place’ (Brodie). These girls can also be bullied and ostracized from their peers as a result of their own envy and insecurity.

There is also the matter of underdeveloped girls, late bloomers, or girls without breasts. They too faced embarrassment and ridicule as a result of body policing. They may feel shame that they are not developing as they are told a girl is ‘supposed’ to. They may face pressure from their parents to grow out of their tomboyishness and into the air of a young lady and that begins with the introduction of the bra (Brodie). Flat chested girls may experience bullying from their peers for looking “like a boy”. Many girls had the bra forced upon them before they physically needed them due to these outside pressures (Brodie). For transgirls the body shaming can be even worse. For many transgirls the bra is not seen as a source of celebration but rather a source of anxiety at the idea of coming out to parents in order to attain one, or their bodies simply not matching mainstream depictions of girls' bodies (Gonick). Trans girls may also face gender policing as many may deny them their gender identity and tell them outright that they are not ‘allowed’ to wear one. For trans boys, developing breasts and having the bra pushed on them can be a major source of anxiety for the same reasons trans girls feel anxiety while trying to wear one.

To Bra or Not to Bra? Oh Wait…You Don't Actually Get a Choice ;)

The bra does not only restrict definitions of girlhood, but it is still physically restricting to the girl herself, and often uncomfortable. Many girls would opt not to wear one at all, that is…if they were actually given a choice. While the bra is a source of ridicule for many girls seeking the bra, it is also a source of ridicule for girls who attempt to go without one, as touched on above with respect to trans boys and flat chested girls who feel anxiety surrounding bras as they are pressured to wear it. Flat chested girls who do not wear bras are seen as unfeminine while full-bosomed girls who do not wear bras are seen as sexually promiscuous or deviant. The breasts are met with tantalizing obsession as they are objectified and sexualized, while simultaneously being met with disgust as consistent and thorough concealment is demanded of them (Webster).The uncovered girl is the girl-at-risk. This girl is seen as insecure and seeking male validation. She is the girl that parents warn their children against. This is the girl who, when she reports sexual harassment or abuse is met with apathy because she was “asking for it”. The at risk girl does not receive sympathy or support. Her mistakes are her own to bear, and instead of help she is only met with criticism.

Bras are seen as a form of protection for girls, automatically situating them as the prey, as the victim, and men as the predators, the attackers. So by choosing not to wear one, a girl is offering herself up to be taken advantage of. This narrative only shows girls that 1), their bodies are inherently sexual and therefore inherently bad which only further teaches them that sexuality is bad in and of itself but 2), that when it comes to males they are the ones that must always change and adapt to suit them. Instead of punishing the boys for their savagery, instead teaching

them to respect girls, girls are told they must hide themselves from the boys. If girls fail to do so, then they are the ones who will be punished, if not by their teachers, or their parents, then by the boys that would harm them, and they would only have themselves to blame. This discourse simultaneously situates the girl as the victim in need of the bras protection, unable to resist the whims of males, as well as responsible for her own victimization by choosing to forgo the bra. This is rape culture, a culture that objectifies girls bodies and blames them for their own objectification, thereby tacitly authorizing sexual violence (Hasinoff).

The Bottom Line

The bra is a significant component of girls' culture. It is one of the few artifacts of girlhood that may actually be recognized and experienced by every girl at some point. It is a rite of passage that bands together girls of different generations. It is a symbol of maturity coveted by, and possibly even fought over by many girls. But what many fail to see is that this is actually a fairytale that is informed by misogynist jargon. This is simply one of the many ways that girls are restricted and controlled by this misogynist society and socialized into believing it acceptable, even desirable. Getting girls to hanker after bras is like getting the girl to fall in love with her jailer: it decreases resistance. By getting girls to adopt sexist cultural norms and values for themselves, they get them to enforce these values amongst each other freely and perpetuate their own oppression. It is so severe that girls will compete against one another and tear each other down in an attempt to embody these chauvinist values and gain social approval.

This is demonstrated adeptly with the institution of the bra. The bra restricts all girlhoods into a single girl narrative that all other girls may either model or be met with reprehension and derision. By conditioning girls to view these both literal and symbolic restraints as a gift, a protection to rely upon, a commodity to be envied, girls spend so much time tripping over themselves to comply that they fail to notice the ways in which they are working against themselves. And even if some do notice, they are quickly ushered into silence as the hardship of just getting other girls to see past the fanfare and recognize the common enemy proves onerous, let alone banding together to thwart him.

Works Cited

Brodie, Ian. “‘The Harsh Reality of Being a Woman’ First Bra Experiences.” Ethnologies, vol.

29, no. 1-2, 2008, pp. 81–106., https://doi.org/10.7202/018746ar.

Carter Andrews, Dorinda J., et al. “The Impossibility of Being ‘Perfect and White’: Black Girls’ Racialized and Gendered Schooling Experiences.” American Educational Research

Journal, vol. 56, no. 6, 2019, pp. 2531–2572., https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831219849392.

Gonick, Marnina. “Sugar and Spice and Something More than Nice? Queer Girls and Transformations of Social Exclusion.” Queer Girls and Transformations, pp. 122–137.

Harris. “The ‘Can-Do’ Girl Versus The ‘At-Risk’ Girl.” Future Girl: Young Women in the 21st Century, Routledge, New York, NY, 2003, pp. 13–35.

Hasinoff, Amy Adele. “Blaming Sexualization for Sexting.” Girlhood Studies, vol. 7, no. 1, 2014, https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2014.070108.

Pandika, Melissa. “Bra History: How a War Shortage Reshaped Modern Shapewear.” NPR, NPR, 5 Aug. 2014,

https://www.npr.org/2014/08/05/337860700/bra-history-how-a-war-shortage-reshaped-m odern-shapewear.

Webster, Emma Sarran. “Why You Don't Have To Wear A Bra.” Teen Vogue, 2018, https://www.teenvogue.com/story/you-dont-have-to-wear-a-bra.