Bras Are The Modern Shackles
Women are forced to believe in the idea to wear a bra on a daily basis in order to reinforce the docile female and the need to micromanage and control the female body to serve the greater purpose of masculinity. The brassiere has oppressed, controlled and sexualized the female body in order to submit to male dominated cultures. The cultural myth of bras continues to remains embedded in our culture as well as helps create cultural norms. The brassieres has hardly been challenged due to its integration into everyday life and constant exposure.
The bra indicates that the female sex is obligated to wear brassieres at all times, especially in the eye of the public. It holds the idea of proper and obedient women follow societal norms to appease the dominant male perspective. The bra denotes the female as docile and submissive body, while the difference of a bra-less women presents an activist or protesting body with independent voice and actions. It strengthens a false feminine ritual Culture translates the bra as a sign of inferior female. A culture also tends to use the bra as a symbol of being a woman and a way to differentiate from young girls. The stereotypes of the female sex are forms of femininity derived by male domination.
Bras are a physical male-imposed shackle that denies women the natural state of being and the freedom of bodily choice, male dominated cultures seem to connect the bare breast as sexual and social disorder therefore reducing the females to sexual objectification. It distorts the actual variety in women’s physical norms.
The bra myth depoliticizes the reality and true nature of breasts. Breasts come in all shapes and sizes while fluctuate through child bearing, weight, and etc. The breast has been represented in history through many things like a symbol of freedom, beauty, power, and other positive attributes. The concept of the bra oppresses these unique and encouraging characteristics of women. Once an icon of power, freedom, and beauty, the breast has been manipulated to demean women while stripping away their qualities. The bra hides the breast and gives the illusion of male’s concept of perfection. As the image of breasts were distorted they were seen as temptations of lust, grotesque, offensive, and etc.
“the exchange of women is considered as the trafficking of a sign, the linguistic currency that facilitates a symbolic and communicative bond among men”-Judith Butler
The bra hides the reality of breast in order to convince a culture that there should only be one beauty standard.It was believed the essence of women was animalistic, therefore the must be a manipulation of women’s body for it was imperfect. The woman’s body must be trained to man’s idea of human beauty hence the use of a bra imposed on women.
Women’s appearance relied on the preference of what men chose for the female gender. The bra can be seen as justified as a pre-approved wardrobe to control the female gender and operate their body. Men seem to feel the need to censor women to remain dominant over them. The bra is the sin of female oppression and the fear of being sexualized by men. The bra has been passed through different epochs and cultures carrying the agenda of domination. It is apparent that the bra is far embedded cultural norms and individuals rarely find the need to address it and challenge the concept behind the object. The bra myth affects the cultures ideas on genders, the media advertising the object, and constructs a daily ritual of obedience for women to subliminal reinforce the dominant male perspective and beauty standards imposed on them. The bra is a form of micro-managing the female gender and her attributes from nature. It distorts the image of women into a commodity rather than a free human being like man.
Through the use of ads women are objectified and demeaned to bra wearing docile subjects. The use and ideas of bras is not modern, but people are force fed the idea for women to wear them daily. Once a young girl begins to change into maturity and the breast tissue begins to swell, they are trained to wear and cover their breasts in fear of the public eye. The fact that a young girl must cover her blossoming body, a natural process, is evidence of sexualization of the female body in society. There are circumstances were women may need bras in sports or back problems due to larger and heavier sizes. The idea of bras should be optional and not forced by society. There should not be an audience or negative feedback if a woman decides to not wear one. The idea that women must wear bras is a myth, society has objectified and sexualized women into thinking they have to cover to remain proper and safe.
“every sign invokes the totality of the symbolic order in which it functions” -Judith Butler
The brassiere is a cultural myth remains embedded in our culture as well as helps create an oppressive state for women’s psyche and bodies. The image of brassieres as an undergarment feeds the concept of a female docile body being proper by hiding the breast from public eye to avoid offending. The meaning of breasts varied through epochs such as freedom and power to an insult and inappropriate. It also reflects of that certain breasts are valuable and those that are saggy and unpleasant to the eyes offend and should use the bra to conform to preferred constitution. The concept of women’s use of bras has been imposed by society to create and hold a beauty standard that neglects women’s varietal differences in the natural world. The object manifested itself into a ritual of obedience that micromanages the female genders everyday life.
Further Readings Judith Butler’s Antigone’s Claim
#freethenipple #bras #feminism
