FREE THE NIPPLE. BURN THE BRA. APOLOGISE TO OUR SPINES.

Why women are still dressing for men’s comfort and why I’m done pretending my nipples are the problem

6 min read

1 hour ago

There are few things in modern life as quietly infuriating as the social expectation that women should strap themselves into uncomfortable, restrictive underwear every single day for the emotional comfort of strangers. Not safety. Not warmth. Not even practicality. Comfort. Specifically men’s comfort. Because somewhere along the way, we collectively decided that a woman’s nipple is a public threat, while a man’s nipple is background furniture.

Free the nipple is often framed as provocative, attention seeking, or extreme. As if asking to exist in our own bodies without pain is a radical act. As if the real issue is skin rather than the decades of conditioning that taught us to monitor our bodies constantly. Sit like this. Cover that. Smooth this out. Adjust yourself so no one else has to feel a feeling.

Bras are marketed as support. As empowerment. As shaping tools that will somehow make life better. But for a huge number of women, bras are not supportive. They are painful. They dig into shoulders, compress ribs, aggravate back pain, restrict breathing, and turn existing chronic pain into something sharper and more persistent. And…