Why Bras Make Your Boobs Saggier, Not The Other Way Around

This week on The Slut Show Ellen Moore is joined by Slut Show veteran Kaia Manoeli (she/her). They discuss all things puberty, from boobs to sweat, from periods to ball sacks and from masturbation to growth spurts. This week’s Slutty Science takes you on the journey of physiological changes that occur - across the different sexes - in puberty.

Puberty is a defining phase of human development where growth ends and the ability to reproduce begins. Let’s take a look at the physiological changes that occur across the different sexes.

Before puberty begins the awakening of adrenal gland causes the body to develop oily skin, body odor and hair all over the body, including the pubic area. This usually begins to occur between 6 and 8 years old, but might vary slightly.

The marker of pubertal onset in girls is the development of boobs. This usually occurs between 10 and 11 years old, but might appear anywhere between 8 and 13 years old. Growth of the ovaries - in biological females - can not directly be seen, but usually coincides with breast development. Girls start to grow quickly, beginning their growth spurt, after they start developing boobs as a result of rapidly increasing estrogen levels.

Females usually begin menstruating between 10 and 14 years old, but ages start at 8 and go all the way up to 15 years old. So if you’re reading this and you are anywhere between that age and haven’t gotten your period yet, don’t worry. Probability shows that it will come!

In biological males the beginning of puberty is marked by the attainment of a testicular volume of 4 milliliters.

The pubertal growth spurt starts at a testicular volume of around 8–10 milliliters. So basically, if you want to know how far in puberty boys are, you can sucker punch them and those who hurt the most, are the furthest. Lol, don’t take our advice, we are no doctor, nor a responsible adult. All jokes aside, the moral of the story is: the balls of boys tell you everything you need to know.

Let’s talk bras. For years and years we used to believe that not wearing bras makes your boobs saggy and hanging. There is, however, no sufficient evidence to support that claim. On the contrary, a small scale 15 year long study - conducted by professor Jean-Denis Rouillon - proved bras to be a false necessity. ‘Medically, physiologically, anatomically – breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity. On the contrary, they get saggier with a bra’ (Glynn 2013).

In that same study Rouillion found that women who never wore bras had nipples that were -  on average - 7 millimeters higher in relation to their shoulders than regular bra users, each year. Additionally the study confirmed that there is no deterioration in the orientation of breasts, more importantly, a widespread improvement was notable in the orientation of breasts of those who do not wear bras.

Even though bras can be cute and hella sexy, there is absolutely no evidence that wearing a bra could prevent sagging, because the breast itself is not muscle, so keeping it toned up is practically impossible.

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Lots of love,

Ellen Moore.

‘The Slut Show With Ellen Moore’: A place to speak openly about shit you and I have to deal with on a daily basis. About feminism, insecurities, feeling like a bomb ass bitch and obviously about loads of sex. Raw, real and uncensored, Ellen Moore brings you your weekly dose of empowerment.

Sources

• “Bras Make Breasts Sag, 15-Year Study Concludes.” 2013. April 13, 2013. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/259073.
• Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne, Denise L. Newman, Claire Holderness, and Michelle P. Warren. 1994. “The Experience of Breast Development and Girls’ Stories about the Purchase of a Bra.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 23 (5): 539–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537735.
• Mihm, M., S. Gangooly, and S. Muttukrishna. 2011. “The Normal Menstrual Cycle in Women.” Animal Reproduction Science, Special Issue: Reproductive Cycles of Animals, 124 (3): 229–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2010.08.030.
• Rierdan, Jill, and Elissa Koff. 1980. “Representation of the Female Body by Early and Late Adolescent Girls.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 9 (4): 339–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02087985.
• “Trends and Patterns in Menarche in the United States : 1995 through 2013–2017.” n.d. Accessed July 8, 2021. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/93643.
• Wood, Claire L., Laura C. Lane, and Tim Cheetham. 2019. “Puberty: Normal Physiology (Brief Overview).” Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Puberty, 33 (3): 101265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beem.2019.03.001.