{"id":4770,"date":"2018-10-28T15:33:11","date_gmt":"2018-10-28T14:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/nantwich-and-district\/?p=4770"},"modified":"2020-06-07T15:34:45","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T14:34:45","slug":"what-have-bras-ever-done-for-women-blog-by-caroline-marsh-october-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/nantwich-and-district\/2018\/10\/28\/what-have-bras-ever-done-for-women-blog-by-caroline-marsh-october-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"What have bras ever done for women? Blog by Caroline Marsh October 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our Club meeting in October 2018 has prompted a blog by Caroline Marsh….<\/strong><\/h1>\n
What is supportive, lifts you up, and always close to your heart? Yes, it could be your best friend, but we are talking about bras here, lots of them, through the ages and social twists and turns of the last century.<\/em><\/h6>\n

Our dinner speaker in October was Janet Blake<\/strong> who brought lots of garments for us to see and gave a gentle and informative talk about bras, slips, petticoats pyjamas and other undergarments. It was an opportunity for a history lesson for some and to reminisce for others \u2013 one of our members even shared that she had even been a model for Spirella corsets! It got me thinking though \u2013 what have bras ever done for women? Are they a vital undergarment for style and comfort or a symbol of male oppression and desire to control women? A little bit of googling around came up with some interesting points.<\/p>\n

At least 75% of western women wear a bra, including me, so it is still popular, if not universal. We heard that they came into common usage in the early 20C and surely must have been a force for liberation from the uncomfortable and unhealthy corset. There is no doubt though that by the 50s the style of bra \u2013 think pointy and prominent breasts –\u00a0 was seen as a desirable look promoted by men, and through the film industry and beauty parades they came to be associated with treating women as sex objects,\u00a0 and \u201ca way for men and society to control women and bras negatively affect the female image\u201d.\u00a0[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

We have all heard about the \u2018bra-burning\u2019 feminists of the 1960\u2019s and the now famous demonstration held at the Miss America\u00a01969 contest on September 7, 1968, attended by about 200 feminists and separately, by civil rights advocates. In fact, the protesters threw bras, and other feminine products, into a “Freedom Trash Can” and there was never any bra burning. Although many women continued to wear their bras and over time \u2018bra-burning feminist\u2019 became almost a term of abuse by some, it marked a time when women began to wear what they wanted for comfort, style and their definition of sexiness. They have also enabled women to more easily participate in sports with the development of supportive sports bras.<\/p>\n

Kristen Flor Perrett provides some interesting food for thought in her recent blog<\/a> about what women want from their bras. From around 2006, when Dove began their \u2018Real Women\u201d campaign there has been greater emphasis on a more holistic view of health and beauty product marketing. We are all into leading health and active lives, and the bra has potential to be more than an essential item of underwear that we mindlessly put on each morning. She highlights 3 key current themes that influence the role of the bra:<\/p>\n