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Ted Leonhardt's avatar

Thanks for this, Doreen, it brought back memories. Being a boy growing up in the fifties my unmentionable garment was a jock strap. I was boxing under the direction of a coach at the YMCA. All the other boys were wearing them. I was afraid to ask. No one in my family ever talked about anything private. I just wore my tighty whities under my boxing shorts. Knowing that I wasn't properly attired, I tried to hide the fact. One day, the coach came into the locker room before class with a brown paper bag. Seeing that we were mostly dressed, gave the order to run the stairs before heading to the gym. As my classmates streamed out, he held me back and handed me the bag, saying, "Put this on." Inside was an "athletic supporter."

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Doreen Frances's avatar

Thank you for sharing! It is comforting to know that I wasn't the only one whose family did not discuss such things.

God bless that teacher!

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Sam Messersmith's avatar

Bra-va! What a great piece!

I HATED bras, I still do. But I have some melons and really need to reign them in. I did sports bras for a very long time because I thought they were comfiest. Then in my dating years I got "sexy" bras that made me so uncomfortable.

Now I'm wearing bralettes, the best of sports bras and no bras lol

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Doreen Frances's avatar

Thank you for reading and Susbscribing! I've had the funniest conversations about bra preferences since I wrote this piece. My favorite is the Victoria's Secret t-shirt bra, it has underwire but no extra padding and sports bras.

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Robin Blackburn McBride's avatar

"On the play's opening night, I donned my nurse’s costume with the confidence of a Broadway star." I love it! My experience was the opposite, Doreen. My mum was a keener when it came to buying me bras back then. (You and I are the same age.) Only in my case, the bras were usually too big. The polyester was misshapen under my tops, so I put on extra sweaters. Wow. I mean, eventually I "caught up," as if that should have been important. Did my mother and I talk about it? No. It's amazing how much tenderness and discomfort we young women silently navigated when it came to our bodies. Only in the last decade have I been going braless most of the time. Thanks for this wonderful post.

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Doreen Frances's avatar

Thank you so much for reading and sharing your "bra experience". I would never have thought to ask anyone about this topic until I was part of this essay contest. It was so much fun to hear the other women's stories and to know I wasn't alone. And now I know yours. When you wrote "the polyester was misshapen under my tops", I could picture it vividly. Yes, we did have to navigate much about our bodies in silence. I didn't have daughters so I didn't have to go through this phase as a mom.

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Laurie Riedman's avatar

I thought I left this comment here, but I hope I didn't leave it somewhere else (ha!) -- This brought back memories of being terrified as well during those years... I remember being haunted by the shouts of "Over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder! She's wearing an over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder," Which is what the boys would say if they notice someone wearing a bra. Made me smile : )

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Doreen Frances's avatar

Omg! I haven't heard that saying in a long time. I remember that! Thankfully, no one said that to me. I'm glad it made you smile.

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Robin Blackburn McBride's avatar

Saving this, Doreen, for my weekend reading. I know I'm going to smile.

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Janice Powers's avatar

You are taking me way back! From that first little white knit "training bra" in grade school to the sexy black "pushup bra" I discovered from friends in college. Now I'm all about my comfy sports bra—or maybe no bra at all!

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Doreen Frances's avatar

Thank you for reading Janice! I do enjoy a nice sports bra! Gone are my days of the padded push-ups, and those dumb "water" bras. LOL

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Jerry Kaufman's avatar

I’m afraid I don’t have a bra story Dor, but I loved yours

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Doreen Frances's avatar

I'm so glad you did!

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