Social Considerations
Young pubescent girls may have ambivalent feelings around the experience of buying and wearing their first bra. In India, once a girl begins wearing a bra, she announces to the world that she is undergoing the physical changes associated with becoming a woman. Girls avoid wearing a bra because it means she must deal with teasing and other issues with the onset of puberty. Other girls welcome the experience of being able to show off the appearance of a bra through their clothes.
The young girl may feel pressured to wear a bra before she actually needs any support so she can "fit in". Once she begins to wear a bra, she may also be pressured to wear clothing that makes her appear older than she is. Girls may experience the opportunity to begin wearing a bra with mixed feelings. On one hand, they may feel "grown up" but with that status comes a host of expectations about keeping up with the latest styles or colors. But some girls hesitate to accept that some of their childhood freedoms like going topless or engaging in certain kinds of boyish activities may be ending.
Some girls are embarrassed about wearing a bra and resist parental pressure to take this step, turning the event into a potentially traumatic experience. If a girl is one of the first or one of the last among her peers to begin wearing a bra, she may be teased. Some welcome and others dislike the new attention they receive because they are wearing a bra. Because bras are mass-produced to fit industry standards, a young girl may not understand that an ill-fitting bra is not her fault and may blame herself, thinking something is wrong with her body.
Read more about this topic: Training Bra
Famous quotes containing the word social:
“... black women have always found that in the social order of things we’re the least likely to be believed—by anyone.”
—Joycelyn Elders (b. 1933)