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

[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

[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!

[dustyejolene]

Bloody hellsticks. Another reason to add to the (substantial) list of reasons why I don't read the Sunday Mail.

[canpin]

I know, as if we needed another. I can "read" our tabloid in about 4 minutes in the morning, I then always puzzle at the people on the trains who take more than 20 seconds to read MX.