feminist letter to Berlei in response to sports bra ad

[canpin]

I write to complain about the advertisement that appeared in the Sunday Mail (29 January 2012) to the effect that "This woman wears a Berlei sports bra, this one doesn't", with corresponding pictures of a pert breast and a "saggy" breast

Comments

[fifteensixty]

Co-signed! Berlei offer me nothing anyway, since I don't exist according to their sizing charts in which women's band measurements apparently scale up with their cup size. They are one of many, many brands that assumes that no women have a small band size and large cup size or a large band size and a small cup size (or that such women aren't financially worth catering to). Thanks to those brands for making me think I was a freak for all those years and for giving me no choice but to wear poorly fitted, uncomfortable bras until I eventually went to a specialist bra boutique and got properly fitted and purchased some correctly fitting bras. (And even then, women who are economically disadvantaged would not be able to afford such correctly fitting bras, since the specialist bras in the less widely available sizes are all imported and cost about $80-120. Not cheap.)

Also, where are the ads for the miracle product to prevent the sagging and chafing of scrotums of men who play sport? Where are the big billboards and posters for fancy jockstraps that every self-respecting man must have or fear excommunication by everyone he knows? Oh, right, yeah, haha - it's easier to prey on women's self esteem. But seriously, I could just imagine how jockstraps would be marketed in an ad campaign, playing to masculine stereotypes. REINFORCE YOUR BALLS! ARMOUR THEM AGAINST THE ONSLAUGHT OF YOUR FOES! ARE YOU MAN ENOUGH TO PROTECT YOUR VITAL SEED?!

[canpin]

I was thinking about this just now while watching the tennis final, since today I am on alert to "sagging". I'm not an expert but maybe a man wouldn't mind "sagging" if it made things look bigger?

The whole thing is horrible. But I wonder if I am so negatively influenced by it because my breasts (naturally or post sag, who knows) look more like the "no sports bra" picture. So the damage is done even by age 24!

Is the store in Brisbane? I would love recs if so. I have not been bra shopping for about 5 years because it is so humiliating and expensive. I have really broad shoulders but not much in the way of breasts so it is incredibly hard to find anything that fits both areas at once - in fact the closest I have ever got is crop top style bras for pre-teenage girls but they lose their supportive power very quickly.

[fifteensixty]

There's a project somewhere online where women take photos of their breasts (breasts on the internet, oh my god no way!) with the aim of getting people to see how much variety there is in shape and size and, of course, sag. I wish more people would look at that and see that a great percentage of women of all ages have some degree of sagging because that's what bits of tissue and fat attached to a vertical surface for years and years tend to do. It's not a flaw that needs fixing, nor is it necessarily preventable by buying the right product. But where would marketing be without deciding on an ideal and then making us spend money to aspire towards it?

Yep, the store is on Adelaide St in the city. It's called Evie Boo but unfortunately they only do larger cup sizes. As their slogan says "It's all about the perfect fit for D-cup and up" (I would kind of like to take issue with them for printing that slogan on their carry-bags, so when I buy a bra I then get to walk around the city broadcasting the fact that my breasts are larger than a D-cup - important news for strangers!). I'm not sure where would be a good place to get fitted for small cup size - I haven't had great experiences in the past with the staff at places like Myer or David Jones (i.e. chucking me in a fitting room with a bra size I've chosen myself, then saying "Yep that looks fine" without really looking when I ask if it's fitted correctly). The staff at Evie Boo really do know their stuff, though, so maybe you could pop in and ask them for advice, even though they might not have anything for you to try on.

So I'm afraid perhaps the only useful info I can really offer is - bras are cheaper to buy online from the UK. I don't know why, but the UK underwear industry caters to a much wider range of sizes and fittings, and the prices are usually about a third of what they are here. A bra I bought at Evie Boo for $109 turned up on a UK website, bravissimo.com (unfortunately another D-cup-and-up place), for equivalent to $35 and international shipping was about $10. So maybe if you do end up find a brand that fits you well IRL, you could still see if you can buy it online from the UK. Best of luck! (It's pretty unfortunate that finding a well-fitting bra really does come down partly to luck!)

[canpin]

what an amazing project, I think it's so sad that girls/boys are growing up and only seeing the one style of post surgery breast and holding this up as being the ideal. I'm quite insecure about mine for many reasons even though there would be nothing at all the matter with them - but at the same time I could never contemplate implants because they look so so horrible and painful! plus I like being able to exercise and go sans bra at times!

ahh I might try that. when you first replied I was all motivated to go and get fitted that week but that moment of energy has passed...it takes a lot of courage for me to go into these stores. there is a reason I haven't bra shopped since 2007!!! I know from my friends' experiences that it is hard for larger busted ladies to find nice bras that actually fit, but it is a common misconception that ladies with smaller busts can fit every other bra...I myself feel that I will never escape the padded bra, heaven forbid!