Last week my husband forwarded to me the Three Minute Monday newsletter from Chris Williamson. He hosts a podcast called Modern Wisdom. The newsletter contains three insights about life that Williamson has learned. It’s the little trivia nuggets that make you feel like “the smartest person in the room.” One of those nuggets of wisdom is about a study revealing that nipple erections are a perceived sign of less intelligence in women. Yes, nipple research …
Sadly, both men and women considered “women with nipple erections as less intelligent, less moral, and more likely to engage in sexual behaviours.”
Mother of all that is holy!
Williamson’s newsletter obtained the information from Rolf Degen—a German freelance science journalist. Degen’s focus is psychology, brain and behavioral research. He writes:
“Nipple erection is a cue that triggers sexualization and objectification of women… Women cannot control their nipple erection, yet these data show that it is used by men and women to make presumptions about women's character and behavior.”
The recent study Degen cites is “The point of nipple erection 3: Sexual and social expectations of women with nipple erection,” published in the Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences journal, September 2022. Rebecca Burch and David Widman surveyed 234 men and women participants who rated pictures of women with and without noticeable nipple erection. The women in the photos had their faces covered to ensure nothing could be read from the expressions.
“Men perceived all the women in the stimulus photos as being less moral and having more male sexual partners, indicating that men objectified the stimuli overall more than women. Women reported that women with erect nipples had more male sex partners, lost their virginity at a younger age, and had lower quality relationships.”
Nipple erection is an uncontrollable reflex, yet it seems to signify an unflattering persona. Now, grant it, there were only 234 people asked for this survey; however, I’m curious how many people really feel this way.
The study of women’s erect nipples isn’t new, seemingly (and not surprisingly) always a topic of titillating conversation. All eyes go directly to the source when a woman walks by, and men may get aroused if there is any sign of rigidly upright nipples. This does not, however, imply women are remotely turned on, too.
In Human Sexual Response, published in 1966 by Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson, they detail the female’s response to sexual stimulation in scientific terms. The “first evidence” of sexual tension is an “involuntary contraction of the muscular fibers.” It’s not at all a provocative description—but they were serious researchers and knew how society would react without professional jargon.
They continue to describe the second physiological change where there is “increased definition and extension of the venous (veins) patterns of the breast.” This is what Masters and Johnson referred to as the Excitement Phase of the female sexual response while engaging in sex or masturbation.
Masters and Johnson are well known for their groundbreaking research of sexual encounters—and they became the nation’s experts on intimacy. Due to the overall puritanical society in the 1950s, they performed research secretively given they were studying actual people while they performed sex or self-stimulation. After eleven years of recording data on the anatomy and physiology of sexual activity, their findings were published in a textbook fashion. This was to ensure the general public and medical community would see their work as science and not simply perversion.
Nevertheless, the excitement for men to see a woman’s erect nipples isn’t lost on my husband. If it were up to him, I’d always be braless—especially in the winter months. Sexual stimulation aside, nipples for both men and women become erect with temperature changes. Researchers have identified eight different types of nerves that carry messages for the sympathetic nervous system—with one type of neuron that makes the nipples erect.
“Those who discovered the "nipple neuron" also found another neuron that responds to norepinephrine, which causes our hair to stand on end. The areola have smooth muscle cells that contract when stimulated; cold weather can make the skin pucker inward while the nipples stick out.”
MedicalDaily.com
I truly don’t understand how a woman going braless allows for assumptions about her overall character. However, I can’t say that I haven’t felt that people do judge me when they notice I’m not wearing a bra. I honestly accept a braless-woman walking by is simply comfortable with her body, confident, and doesn’t mind displaying her sexuality. I want that, but it’s not always easy to embrace the sentiment for myself. I blame the unjust societal norms that have flooded my psyche.
I assure you that my husband doesn’t see my nipples as a means of determining my intelligence or moral character, nor should anyone else. The reality is that bras are like underwear, not always needed—just usually preferred.
Why do we feel compelled to hide any signs of a nipple?
I would venture to say that having goosebumps doesn’t make anyone feel embarrassed. Why should nipples be any different? Well, one factor is the attention that hard nipples draw toward our breasts. Given the sexualization of our bodies and unwanted attention from men, we’ve become self-conscious. Not to mention the shame that is brought on by other women because of their own insecurities.
Many woman, like me, face the challenge of being comfortable without a bra in public. There’s a feeling that not unlike those participating in the study, people will judge us harshly. Our first step in being comfortable with our bodies is not caring what total strangers may think.
“Shame is that voice we hear when we’ve done something that society deems deceitful, stupid, slutty, un-American, anti-feminist, racist, homophobic . . . Shame is fueled by our deep concern with what others think of us and, perhaps more frighteningly, what we truly think of ourselves,”
F*cked: Being Sexually Explorative and Self-Confident in a World That’s Screwed by Corinne Fisher and Krystyna Hutchinson
What Fisher and Hutchinson remind their readers is how shame has been used to control women’s behavior for centuries. The metaphorical “Scarlet Letter" handed to you by complete strangers based on your behavior or dress.
Ladies, take the opportunity to step outside of your comfort zone if you truly feel that going braless represents your personal freedom. I know when I let go of fearing anyone’s judgment, I’m totally at ease with how I look and who I am.
Health.com reporter, Julia Naftulin, did just that for her article “How Going Braless for a Week Taught Me To Love My DD Breasts.” Julia set a goal of five days without a bra and documented how she felt throughout the process. She writes: “I was taught that large breasts should be covered and supported behind clothes.”
Adding to her being self-conscious about not wearing a bra was the notion her breasts were not small and perky—“I knew this experiment would push my comfort levels with my body to the edge, but that's exactly why I wanted to do it.”
Despite her insecurities, she successfully powered through to the end.
“I now feel more confident rocking tops that society would normally tell big-chested women they should never wear. I also feel more connected to my body. Without a bra to strap my breasts down, I felt more of the natural movement of my chest… The comfort is unparalleled, and it's helped me confront and move past insecurities about my body.”
To Bra or Not to Bra
On medicalnewstoday.com, writer Sarah Glynn cited a research study about the effects of wearing a bra. It was determined in the research— performed by Jean-Denis Rouillon from the University of Besançon, France—that the “bra is a false necessity.”
Sarah quotes Rouillon with the notion that…
“Medically, physiologically, anatomically—breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity. On the contrary, they get saggier with a bra.”
The only caveat, which Rouillon acknowledges, is that despite the hundreds of women (ages 18 to 35) and fifteen-years of study, his research doesn’t represent a global view of women’s breasts. He also states that women who are middle-aged, especially after having children or overweight, shouldn’t necessarily abandon their bras, feeling they may need the support.
The study showed younger women who had never worn bras had no deterioration in the orientation of their breasts—in other words, sagging. In fact, compared to those who had continuously worn bras, the breasts that went without appeared better in form. Sarah also included a quote from the former CEO of Playtex, John Dixey:
“We have no evidence that wearing a bra could prevent sagging, because the breast itself is not muscle, so keeping it toned up is an impossibility.”
We can safely say aging will lead to sagging breasts, but wearing a bra just holds them in place. As Dixey explains, the “bra will give you the shape the bra’s been designed to give while you’re wearing it.” The major complaints women have about wearing a bra is generally because they’re wearing the wrong one for their body. My article about bras, by the way, explains how to measure and select the appropriate bra to prevent restriction blood flow, back problems, or pain. It just looks and feels better when you wear the right bra for your body.
Yes, bras can be incredibly sexy, however there seems to be no legitimate reason to wear them. What we have to question is whether we are choosing to wear a bra simply because we’re hiding nipple erections. Are we allowing the self-induced embarrassment or shame to determine our comfort?
Personally, my comfort level with allowing the ladies to breathe braless on their own is increasing (pun intended). Most woman will tell you, once we walk through the door at home, the bra is ceremoniously stripped off—the sensation is euphoric and feels like freedom. Why not feel that way all the time?
As I mentioned in my bra article, the bralette has become increasingly popular due to the comfort and the more natural look of the breasts. Bras tend to pad breasts down and bralettes enhance their beauty—and allow a more natural look. I feel the benefit of a bralette for someone like me is that it mutes the nipple erections.
It’s like a braless starter kit!
Women were working from home and taking advantage of not having to dress up for the office during the pandemic—which included bras. I’ve worked from home for five years and rarely is a bra worn. It could be said that women simply want to be more comfortable rather than elevating the ladies in a bra for the sake of traditional societal standards.
“Demand for comfortable bras, nude bras, and eco-friendly bras are intensively increasing among women in the States. A staple in each woman's bra wardrobe, nude bras are the most versatile… Many women stopped wearing bras during the lockdown which has pessimistically affected the bra market in the U.S. For example, almost one-fourth quarter percentage of the women said that they never or almost never wore a bra during the pandemic.”
~brandessence.com, February 2022
One major issue is the way society sexualizes a woman’s breasts—which oddly enough half the population has (or will have). It’s a sexist view given the same is not applied to men who freely walk around topless. Even if we don’t call it “topless” when a man takes off his shirt—we don’t naturally assume they are promiscuous or didn’t make it pass the ninth-grade.
The Free The Nipple campaign asserts that it should be legally and culturally acceptable for women to bare their nipples in public. Personally, I can’t imagine that I’d be willing to walk around nude from the waist up. However, many women take no issue with that concept and comfortable with the idea. Kudos to them!
Did you know there are no federal laws either for or against nudity in the United States? The reason being that it may be protected under the First Amendment right to freedom of expression. In my state of Florida, the law makes nudity illegal only if the nudity is “vulgar or indecent.”
I guess that is determined by whose doing the looking?
But, I digress…
I’m not suggesting women go out naked, or even completely topless; even if my husband is behind the idea. I’m simply offering that going without a bra isn’t really a big deal. It doesn’t have to make women feel self-conscious because of our nipples considering everyone has a pair. Normalize being comfortable with your body and the freedom of wearing what you want.
If you decide to take the Five-Day Braless Challenge and your nipples become erect—which they inevitably will at some point—don’t give it any thought. They have a mind of their own, as do you. We can’t allow strangers who might make judgements about our character based on nipple erections influence our confidence or self-worth.
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