The bra as a gender(ed?) tool

I have often wondered about femininity and the tools and rituals that are typically associated with femininity. These tools, like make-up, hair styling, etc., can be used both to replicate an idealized image of femininity, and can also be used to subvert or separate oneself from the same idealized image. Make-up is used both by beauty queens and punk rockers to illustrate a particular identity on the surface of their bodies. The same intentions apply to hair styling. But what interest me are the strategies people use that are more permanent and not as superficial in order to convey that they are members of a particular subset in their society. These speculations conjure up thoughts of alteration of the body’s form and the tools needed to accomplish various kinds of alterations, such as the corset or the bra. Because the corset is a somewhat outdated device, but the concept of supporting the breasts continues in the popular use of the bra, I wish to explore the gender implications of the bra as a technology or tool. In American societies, as well as many other western societies, large, firm, and “perky” breasts, or breasts located high on the chest, are prized as the ideal, contributing to the shape and form of the archetype of femininity. We may see indications of this societal preference in the form of a Barbie Doll’s body, or in the shape and soft jiggle of a lingerie model’s confident strut down the runway. Although many who seek to replicate this ideal on their own bodies turn to the bra for shape and support, the bra can also be used to rebel against this conception of beauty, as well as poke fun at it and subvert its gendered connotations.

            It is not difficult to recognize the importance American society places in large and perky breasts. One only has to go as far as the Victoria’s Secret homepage to find an extensive selection of padded bras, ranging from “Level 1: Subtle Lift” to “Level 5: Ultimate Lift.” There are push-up bras, padded bras, and bras that combine both functions, in order to market to the many who want to construct the idealized shape of femininity on their own bodies. Regardless of actual breast size or perkiness, the idealized image can be reproduced with the technology of the push-up or padded bra. Those who are particularly flat-chested may also use padded bras, or something called “GelCurve,” a bra with a packet of gel-like substance to replicate the texture and feel of a breast more convincingly than conventional padding. However, no matter the gender or sexual orientation of its user, the bra is meant to draw attention to the breasts when used to replicate or construct the “feminine” silhouette. It is important to note that this is not the intention of all bra users.

         Contrary to the purpose or intention of the push-up or padded bra, which is to shape or construct what is regarded as the feminine form on a person’s body, the high-impact bra and binders aim to push breasts flat against the chest for the purpose of making them less noticeable or hiding them altogether. Some women who prefer to assume a masculine identity, or transgender people in transition to male-hood, use the high-impact bra, originally meant to prevent pain during high-impact exercise. Under the heading, “Transition,” in a chapter from The Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health, it is stated:

For people who wish to portray their gender as male, other options include “binding”… Binding refers to hiding or minimizing the appearance of breasts through the use of constricting materials that include ace bandages, a sports (“frog”) bra, duct tape, or an actual chest binder (compression vest).

 

Although the high-impact bra is used for a very different purpose from the aim of push-up or padded bras, its use still acknowledges the presence of a female ideal. Even though the high-impact bra is commonly used in response to the desire for a flat chest, or the male gender construction of the ideal, the act of using a high-impact bra deconstructs the connection between the bra and femininity. In this regard, the bra can be considered both a tool to construct a feminine body form and a masculine one. The previously popular assumption that the bra is a feminized tool is destroyed with the introduction of the use of the high-impact bra for the purpose of obscuring the breasts.

         Although the bra is often used by men or women who wish to obtain a “feminine” silhouette, or by women who want to hide their breasts in order to conceal their sex, the idea of a man using the bra and maintaining his masculinity has previously been left unaddressed. Jerry Seinfeld’s comical introduction of the “bro/mansierre” into pop culture carries over the deconstruction between “bra” and “femininity” done by the use of the high-impact bra. Only now, he crosses the frontier of the bra being used exclusively by females and offers “a support undergarment specifically designed for men.” The comedy of this invention comes from the tremendous resistance we, the viewers, have in making the leap to connect “bra” and “masculinity.” The idea of the “mansierre” is funny because it subverts the long-existing gendering of the bra. This discomfort and subversion of the gendering of the bra is comically articulated in the scene of the episode in which Frank Costanza and Kramer propose the idea to a potential investor:

         Investor: So, what do you see in the back? Hooks? Velcro?

         Frank: Definitely Velcro.

Kramer: Say you’re getting intimate with a woman. You don’t want her fumbling and struggling back there. I think we’ve all experienced that.

         Investor: Yeah, hot summer nights.

 

This sequence of dialogue evokes the age-old adolescent preoccupation with the difficulty in unfastening a girl’s bra, but subverting the gender roles in the imagined scenario for comedic purposes.

         It is clear that the bra is associated with femininity in popular culture, exemplified in the idealization of large, perky breasts and the success of such retailers as Victoria’s Secret. However, a possibility previously ignored by many is the broadening of the bra’s popularity. There are people who use the bra for other motives, such as concealing one’s sex, like the transgender people who are referred to the high-impact bra or binders in order to assume a more masculine identity, or such as poking fun at the rigidity of the preconception that bras are exclusively for women, like Seinfeld’s episode about the “bro/mansierre.” The bra is a technology that has variable uses, all pertaining to the subscription to, denial of, or questioning of normative gender models. Addressing the performative nature of gender, Judith Halberstam writes:

…both [gender and computer intelligence] are in fact imitative systems…Gender, we might argue, like computer intelligence, is a learned, imitative behavior that can be processed so well that it comes to look natural. Indeed, the work of culture in the former and of science in the latter is perhaps to transform the artificial into a function so smooth that it seems organic. In other words, gender, like intelligence, has a technology. (Halberstam, 3)

 

 Halberstam affirms the conjecture that gender is subject to manipulation and variability because of its nature as a learned behavior. The bra is a tool that aids its wearer in acting out a particular gender identity. Its use in supporting breasts and making them more prominent has been learned so deeply and by so many to the point that its use in this respect has been taken as “natural,” perhaps not “organic,” but certainly “normal.” Binders and the “bro/mansierre” are so shocking and unfamiliar to many, in regard to the former, and comical, in regard to the latter, because they challenge the common assumptions and uses relating to the bra. These technologies speak to the variability of the bra, as many other technologies speak to the variability of gender norms and performance. Taking into account all of the uses acknowledged in the aforementioned media, the bra has been proven to be a technology used in order to vary one’s appearance according to one’s wishes, a tool used in programming the performance of one’s gender, to construct, reconstruct, or deconstruct the long-held belief that the bra serves one purpose, regardless of varying standards of beauty or gender boundaries.

 

Works Cited:

         1. Halberstam, Judith. “Automating Gender: Postmodern Feminism in the Age of the Intelligent Machine.” Feminist Studies. College Park: 17.3 (1991): 439-450.   

 

         2. Kaufman, Randi. “Introduction to Transgender Identity and Health.” The Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health. Philadelphia: American College of Physicians, 2007. https://www.acponline.org/atpro/timssnet/images/books/sample%20chapters/Fenway%20Sample%20Chapter%2012.pdf.

        

            3. “The Doorman.” Seinfeld-Season 6. Writ. Tommy Gammil & Max Pross. Dir. Andy Ackerman. NBC. 23 Feb. 1995