Should women wear bras? According to one long-running French study, going without a bra may have some benefits, and not only on October 13th, the National No Bra Day.
The study suggests that going without a bra may help the breast tissue stay more toned, while wearing a bra from a young age neither supports the breasts nor prevents their sagging. According to the researcher, it also doesn’t reduce back pain.
Jean-Denis Rouillon, a professor and sports science researcher at the French University of Franche-Comte, conducted a study on the effect of bras on 330 women between the ages of 18 and 35.
The study lasted 15 years and found that women who had the habit of not wearing bras had perkier breasts.
The results showed that women who decided for themselves to stop wearing bras had nipples that were lifted 0.3 inches (7 millimeters) higher on average than those of women wearing bras on a regular basis.
The researcher says that wearing bras in the long run may impede circulation and lower breast tone. The changes in the participants’ breasts were measured and recorded every year, using a slide rule and a caliper.
France Info shared professor Rouillon’s statement that anatomically, physiologically, and medically, breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity. In his view, they may even get saggier that way. He also noted that the results were preliminary and that the women in the study were not representative of all women.
Dr. Stafford Broumand, an expert who wasn’t connected to the study, agrees with professor Rouillon. He says that for younger women, not wearing a bra may encourage collagen production and elasticity, which could provide better lift as the breasts develop.
Nevertheless, there are others who don’t fully support this view.
For instance, Deborah Orr from the Guardian thinks that professor Rouillon can’t be an expert on breasts as he doesn’t have breasts in the first place. She says that women wear bras for purposes other than the ones he states: for aesthetic, physiological, and practical reasons. Bras allow women not to think about their breasts every time they break into a trot to catch a lift, says Deborah.
The results of Rouillon’s research showed that the nipples of women aged 18-35 who went braless lifted by an average of 0.3 inches (7 millimeters). According to Deborah, he just can’t understand that bras let women avoid thinking about where their nipples might be. She continues that the last thing women need is someone else teaching them what to think about their breasts and their well-being.
In the end, wearing a bra or not is a matter of personal comfort and choice.
Free the Nipple
The #freethenipple campaign thinks women should have the right to go bare-chested. Their reasoning is that women currently have to hide their nipples, and breastfeeding in public is still considered shameful by some, while sexualized advertisements are seen as totally fine. They think this can change, along with today’s victim-blaming culture, once people get used to seeing nipples more often.
In the video below, a woman speaks more about going braless and breastfeeding in public.
Via David Wolfe
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always talk to your doctor about any health concern.