In response to:
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. “Breast Buds
and the ‘Training’ Bra.” 1977. Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and
Contemporary Readings, 4th edition. 249-254.
Before reading this I had no idea
that the first bra was created in 1913, “designed simply to flatten,” and that
the more current/modern bra came about in the 1930’s (Brumberg 250). The
concept of the bra is so new yet so universal now. Mass production and mass
media are so influential in society, and the bra is a prime example. With mass
production came sizing—A, B, C, D, the infamous DD, and the realm of un-tamed
breasts even larger. (As a person who once wore the “more than a DD,” I know
firsthand the impossibility of buying a bra in a department store that will be
the correct size.) I was still in middle school when I made the transition to
“larger than my mother” and up to DD, and had to face the realization that I
wasn’t just larger than normal, larger than my peers, but I was freakishly,
abnormally larger than society as a whole. For years I wore two minimizer bras
at a time in an effort to “tame” my breasts even more, as they continued to
grow. I was known as “jugs” for years in high school before I had breast
reduction surgery, after which I spent my final year in baggy shirts so that no
one would I know that I had “gotten my tits cut off.” (which to this day
people perceive as a “tragedy” despite the fact that it was practically a
medical necessity)
The physical pain I had from wearing
underwire bras aimed at “taming” my breasts has always led me to wonder why
anyone would wear a AAA or AA (or even an A) bra when to me they so obviously
don’t need one. But with stores and brands like Victoria’s Secret a AAA girl
can wear a bra that makes her look like she has real B-size breasts. (I’ve
always wondered how disappointed the boyfriend is once the bra comes
off?)
