Do you feel it is appropriate not to wear a bra in public?

AMEN. They are just BOOBS. It's crazy how many people go Carrie's mom (I CAN SEE YOUR DIRTY PILLOWS ) on this issue (in Mississippi anyway). I also hate the idea that large breasts are somehow more "obscene" than small breasts, as if smaller-breasted women are somehow inherently more pure or something than large-breasted women because they don't have JUGS.

I hate how prudish the US is and how this country's priorities are out of whack. OMG that woman isn't wearing a bra! Don't look, Tommy! (Meanwhile Tommy is eating fast food and watching 6 hours of TV a day and shooting the holy hell out every living thing in some video game, but that flies just fine.) less

AMEN. They are just BOOBS. It's crazy how many people go Carrie's mom (I CAN SEE YOUR DIRTY PILLOWS ) on this issue (in Mississippi anyway). I also hate the idea that large breasts are somehow more "obscene" than small breasts, as if smaller-breasted women are somehow inherently more pure or something than large-breasted women because they don't have JUGS.

I hate how prudish the US is and how this country's priorities are out of whack. OMG that woman isn't wearing a bra! Don't look, Tommy! (Meanwhile Tommy is eating fast food and watching 6 hours of TV a day and shooting the holy hell out every living thing in some video game, but that flies just fine.) less

You and Airen make excellent points. Why is it considered "OK" for women with small breasts to go braless and women with large breasts are supposed to go full tilt burka on their boobs?

Seems very unfair.

As for the poster who said people were "covering their children's eyes" WTF? Why? A breast is just part of a women. My children all breastfed well into toddlerhood and went to breastfeeding support group meetings I lead with me. They were all exposed to breasts the way they were meant to be used (uh, feeding babies) from, literally, the moment they were born. They have always accepted breasts as part of life, a good part of life. I wouldn't "cover a child's eyes" from a floppy breast display.... but then again, I don't ever go into WalMart.... less

This reminds me of a run-in I had with my sister. When she remarried, she gained a step-son in the deal. He's just hitting his formative teen years and I *never* wear a bra (there's absolutely no reason for me to, I have small breasts). She gave me the most scathing look and was all "why aren't you wearing a bra around your nephew?". To which I promptly replied, "I'm in my mother's house, I didn't know you were even going to be here today and do you really think it's the first time he's seen nipples? Do you put on a bra first thing in the morning?" She really didn't have anything to say about that. I was just like "wtf?", I really did not understand why she was giving me such a hard time over something so dumb. less

Good grief they are tittys not guided, heat seeking sex missiles. EVERY woman, and some men, have them why are we so damn prudish as a country? We would not lose our damn minds or go sexually insane if every woman in America took off her bra and shirt...for fucks sweet sake we CAN control ourselves. less

AMEN. They are just BOOBS. It's crazy how many people go Carrie's mom (I CAN SEE YOUR DIRTY PILLOWS ) on this issue (in Mississippi anyway). I also hate the idea that large breasts are somehow more "obscene" than small breasts, as if smaller-breasted women are somehow inherently more pure or something than large-breasted women because they don't have JUGS.

I hate how prudish the US is and how this country's priorities are out of whack. OMG that woman isn't wearing a bra! Don't look, Tommy! (Meanwhile Tommy is eating fast food and watching 6 hours of TV a day and shooting the holy hell out every living thing in some video game, but that flies just fine.) less

This reminds me of a conversation I witnessed between one of my friends and her mother. She was going in to college in a week or two and was walking around her house in a t-shirt and jeans and no bra while she packed, and her mother and aunt were livid! They talked about her "Devil's Pillows" and how if she walked around like that on campus people would think she was a slut, and her reputation would be ruined. I was shocked that they could have this attitude, as when we visited the campus in question it looked like very few women there were wearing bras, and no one cared. less

A lot of women I know, including myself, find that bras are actually hurting us and not helping us. For the longest time I was told that they were necessary to support breasts and improve the posture of the spine and shoulders. My chiropractor said he was a part of a study (not in the study, but monitoring it) a few years ago and they found that women who didn't wear bras actually had less back problems.

Now, this isn't the reason for my not wanting to wear one. My reason is that I feel more comfortable without one. But for some reason, some people seem to have a huge issue with seeing someone's nipples get hard under their shirt. Most men find it sexy, including my hubby. But I had two comments made to me at the grocery store that I should wear a bra and stop showing off my goods underneath my LOOSE t-shirt. I mean, it's not like I was wearing a tank top. And if I was, who cares?

But anyway, enough of me. What do you all think? Voting is not private, but please explain your reasoning. less

A lot of women I know, including myself, find that bras are actually hurting us and not helping us. For the longest time I was told that they were necessary to support breasts and improve the posture of the spine and shoulders. My chiropractor said he was a part of a study (not in the study, but monitoring it) a few years ago and they found that women who didn't wear bras actually had less back problems.

Now, this isn't the reason for my not wanting to wear one. My reason is that I feel more comfortable without one. But for some reason, some people seem to have a huge issue with seeing someone's nipples get hard under their shirt. Most men find it sexy, including my hubby. But I had two comments made to me at the grocery store that I should wear a bra and stop showing off my goods underneath my LOOSE t-shirt. I mean, it's not like I was wearing a tank top. And if I was, who cares?

But anyway, enough of me. What do you all think? Voting is not private, but please explain your reasoning. less

Good grief they are tittys not guided, heat seeking sex missiles. EVERY woman, and some men, have them why are we so damn prudish as a country? We would not lose our damn minds or go sexually insane if every woman in America took off her bra and shirt...for fucks sweet sake we CAN control ourselves. less

I hear ya. It is that live viewing I seen where a grandmother was showing a girlfriend of mine what happens when a bra is never worn. Flopped it right over her shoulder.

On the other hand, my mom at 75 has the same looking chest she always had.

I agree, be comfy. less

THANK YOU (for several things: introducing me to the term "full tilt boob burka," agreeing with me about the double standard where big breasts/little breasts are concerned, the WalMart joke, leading a breastfeeding support group, teaching your children that breasts aren't obscene)

Before my breast reduction (DD's), I would go braless, and people would make comments about my breasts. I was with my mother one time in a doughnut shop and the clerk actually whispered some obscene joke to my MOTHER about MY breasts (W.T.F.?) and she went into some spiel about how I needed to start wearing a bra. I was just going through puberty, hadn't really formed a self image yet, wasn't really aware that I even HAD boobs, and here I was being immediately thrust into self-consciousness and shame.

No one has said anything to me about my being braless since my reduction (I have C cups now, but they are more like B's in proportion to my very large frame).....but I have gotten some cold glances from mothers and older women that I've read as, "You filthy harlot! What are you doing out during the day? Can't you see I'm trying to teach my (boy) children that breasts are only lurid sex bags or (girls) a source of great shame?"

I'm glad that I came to the logical conclusion that breasts serve both sexual and nonsexual purposes, JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER BODY PART (clitoris aside, but then I'll never be walking around in public with my clit exposed, will I?), so they aren't dirty. Certainly nobody around here was going to share that useful nugget of information with me. I'm repressed enough without thinking my nature-given body is a conduit of pure visual evil.

I personally consider the mouth to be the most sexual part of someone's body (apart from the brain, but that's not exactly on display), which may be strange, considering people's mouths are constantly on display and should hence be "desexualized" or whatever, but, like most people in most situations, I CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEXUAL AND NONSEXUAL CONTEXT. Id est, if breasts weren't regarded as sin bags, instead regarded as another body part that is multifunctional, there would be a lot of time freed up to worry about important things.

That went on rather longer than I had intended. less

A lot of women I know, including myself, find that bras are actually hurting us and not helping us. For the longest time I was told that they were necessary to support breasts and improve the posture of the spine and shoulders. My chiropractor said he was a part of a study (not in the study, but monitoring it) a few years ago and they found that women who didn't wear bras actually had less back problems.

Now, this isn't the reason for my not wanting to wear one. My reason is that I feel more comfortable without one. But for some reason, some people seem to have a huge issue with seeing someone's nipples get hard under their shirt. Most men find it sexy, including my hubby. But I had two comments made to me at the grocery store that I should wear a bra and stop showing off my goods underneath my LOOSE t-shirt. I mean, it's not like I was wearing a tank top. And if I was, who cares?

But anyway, enough of me. What do you all think? Voting is not private, but please explain your reasoning. less

So, large breasts on a 22 year old is OK? Large breasts on a 40 year old "need to be contained?"

Sorry, but WTF? Ageist much?

Maybe all us women should just quit going outside once we hit 35 as to not offend those who only want to see The Young and The Perky.

Cripes, that's insulting. less