Male students talk ladies’ underpinnings, getting some strong opinions off their chests.

Emma Davis/Food Editor

During the infamous Gender Bender dance, an anonymous male friend of ours dared to go the extra mile: yes, he wore a bra. Don’t get too excited now, it was merely a sports bra, lacking in uncomfortable wire but full of support.

After interviewing him and some other male peers, we uncovered some of their honest opinions on the subject.

“[Wearing a sports bra] felt like I was being hugged,” he said.

We concur. A sports bra hugs the chest while also protecting the breasts from sports-related injuries such as painful bouncing (while running, walking, or galloping) or—dare we utter the dreaded words—chafing (due to shirt friction). Ultimately, our male friend summarized his bra-wearing night as “an interesting experience.”

Refusing to underrepresent the men on campus, we delved deeper into the male mind. Also, it was hilarious interviewing the confused and nervous specimens. Upon further investigating, we realized that some male peers have very straightforward opinions on bras.

“I’ve worn a regular bra…It’s absolutely not comfortable,” said Taylor Forman ’18.

After this confession, it was as if a large weight was lifted off Forman’s chest (metaphorically speaking, of course).

As he pensively gazed at the ground, Forman furthered his assertion by talking about the notoriously uncomfortable push-up bra.

“If [wearing a push up bra] is less comfortable, don’t wear it,” he said.

Forman did not stop after giving this logical advice. He also ranted about how high maintenance bra care seems.

“I learned from my mom that you can’t wash normal bras, you gotta do some crazy shit with ‘em,” he said. “If you wash them normally you’ll mess them up! And so you’re throwing money away if you wash them.”

After shaking his head in confusion, Forman sighed. Forman’s friend and roommate Albert Fang ’18 picked up where Forman left off. He was asked if he thought women should or should not wear bras.

“You do you,” Fang passionately professed. Forman echoed the statement.

“It should be less about being expected to wear a bra and more about your preference, or your choice, to wear one,” Forman said.

Ideally, at our sexually liberated liberal arts school no woman would feel pressured to wear a bra. Still, let’s take a step back and examine the male equivalent of bras: compression shorts. Compression shorts exist because men got sick of wearing jockstraps, a terrifying thong-like contraption fitted around the genitals. Don’t try to look up a photo online—some things can’t be unseen. But we would argue that men have essentially upgraded from scary, strappy, invasive devices to far comfier compression shorts. Why? Because jockstraps are the worst, and nobody wants that shit around their sexy parts.

Essentially, men stopped wearing something uncomfortable and found a better solution. For some, that’s compression shorts. For others, it’s boxer-briefs. For ballerinos, the solution is a fun little device called a dance belt, which is actually just a thong with a bigger front portion. And that’s great! The point is, nobody is shaming boys who choose not to wear jock straps during exercise. Cultural norms no longer insist that boys gird their reproductive features to the point of discomfort. Our hope is that likewise, it will become socially acceptable for female-bodied Wesleyan students to wear whatever we want, whether it’s a push-up bra, a sports bra, or no bra at all.