No Stupid Questions

Advantages of bras:

• Look nice (if you're into that look, which many people are)

• Keep your nipples from chafing

• Support/containment for larger boobs

• Keep prudish people from being mad at your nipples

• Can be worn without a shirt for sports if they cover enough real estate

• When breastfeeding, help catch/absorb leaks

Disadvantages of bras:

• Uncomfortable if not fitted right
• Sweaty as fuck on hot days
• Expensive
• Many have to be hand washed if they are fancy

I would say I wear bras about 30-50% of the time and it's usually for either support/chafing prevention or looks. The rest of the time I can't be bothered. I'm also lucky to not have super large breasts. I know women who do may find a good fitted bra to be more comfortable than no bra.

When I was breastfeeding I wore them all the time though because it is super awkward to leak through your shirt in public.

Edited to add bullet points bc I suck at lemmy formatting

I have 38C and I wear a bra for a variety of reasons. It does help with support, they weigh a lot and having them bounce freely hurts. It's like having two large water balloons taped to your chest. Every slight bump or jolt pulls on the skin.

It also helps with sweating. Underwood sweat is a real thing and just as uncomfortable as armpit sweat or thigh rub sweat. A bra helps to absorb sweat and moisture under there.

A bra also acts a a sort of "armor." My breast's are rather sensitive, and rubbing against my shirt or other stuff can be painful. Having a bra layer protects them from chaffing and rubbing.

There's also a bit of vanity to it, depending on type and style of bra. Some are utilitarian and functional only, some are stylish, and some are designed to show off in low cut blouses.

Personally, most of my bras are entirely function and utility as I work as a welder. I'm covered head to toe in safety gear, so wearing a pretty or revealing bra just isn't practical.

You don't want to provoke the boomers with a young woman's nips!

Breasts can get heavy, and the sensation of gravity constantly pulling down on the skin of your chest and on your soft tissue can be very uncomfortable. If you get sweaty, moisture can get trapped underneath and cause rashes or fungal infections. Moving about, they can get in the way of your arm movements and if jumping or running the movement can be downright painful. Imagine piercing your ears with heavy weights and then shaking your head. You would want to minimize their movement!

Historically, women have used woven cloth bandeaus, breast bands, belts, straps, stays, corsets, bralets, bodices and all sorts of things to try to minimize movement and support breast tissue. Bras are just the most common contemporary thing.

I'm a small breasted woman who does not wear a bra. The reasons of practicality and comfort are described below for bigger chested people (I didn't see mentioned that if they are really big and you try to run without serious, sometimes two sports bras on they can fly up and hit you in the face). I do sometimes accidentally hit my nipple on something, which I don't like.

But in my experience, people get upset at seeing boob shaped boobs. Strangers tell me I should be wearing a bra. They want bra shaped boobs. Nipples are scary.

I haven't worn one since middle school when it was new and fun and made me feel "grown up" (but uncomfortable). But some years back I got shingles and apparently permanent nerve damage on the nerve group that would be right under the bra band on my back and anything irritating it makes me feel like I'm on fire so it's just not going to happen. Certainly not in the name of sparing the general public the scandal of seeing boob shaped boobs in a loose T shirt. At the very most I will use silicone tape to hide my nipples in very formal situations.

A lot of replies here ignoring the obvious - patriarchy, religion, and capitalism.

There are plenty of examples of societies past and present, for the vast majority of the time humans existed probably, where breasts are free to exist as they are. The people those breasts are attached to do all manner of work and activities without hinderance, or chafed nipples. Just like those with flat chests do.

The reason that in (especially our western) modern world we are expected to wear bras has to do with puritanism, shame, control, and profiteering from all of the above.

Comfort is categorically not a priority of the billion dollar bra industry, the trillion dollar advertising industry, nor those who demand we wear them to be "respectable", lest we "excite" their, or their son's, urges or "distract" them from their important manly duties (and if we don't, and they attack us, it'd be our fault for not being "modest" enough and "asking for it").

When we have all been socialised with these demands and expectations for centuries, they become so deeply ingrained, it's really hard to separate from our own free will, and yet ask any group of people who wear bras what the best part of the day is, and they'll tell you it's taking it off.

And to be clear - this isn't a judgment of anyone who wears a bra, I wear an underwire once in a blue moon which I hate, but am usually in a sports bra because I feel more comfortable with everything held in place (and also have nosy neighbours I'm not that friendly with), it's about questioning why I feel more comfortable that way, and how much of that is natural vs manufactured by a society that demands I keep everything held in place, hidden (unless they're "required" to sell something or entertain the mens), and forever impossibly youthful and perky.

Anyway, I'm stoned too and I tend to ramble, so I think I 'll leave it at that for now lol

I think it's much the same purpose that underwear serves for the testicles (and penis). As a man, I honestly can't remember any time I walked around without underwear, but I'm pretty sure it would be worse than with. Things would just flail everywhere.

Other answers about bras are great but I thought the male flip side ought to be mentioned.