BRAS ......IF ONLY

[DW20]

 I was just wondering.

Imagine all stores had stocked "chest supports" (can't think of a better name) for men for say the last twenty years  and these were non lacey etc. and were sold from the men's department
Suppose these garments were as well known to women as bras currently are to us males. I reckon most of the posts on this site would be redundant - acceptance and surgical parts. And there would be no recriminations from wives and other men.

I think most, if not all posters here wish this was the case.

The stupidity of our collective situation is so obvious when put in these terms

There needs to be some sort of campaign and or website crossing gender boundaries to get us from where we are to where logically we need to be.
ie Recognising that a bra or "chest support" is nothing more than a functional item of clothing.
Personally I would still like my functional garment to to look "nice" 
 

If this gains any traction in enough minds is there anyone out there with the time and expertise technical, publicity (perhaps an annual gynecomastia awareness day) , sales etc to make something actually happen. Ideally it would need to be international 

[Johndoe1]

For years I thought I was the one who was different. It took years, but I finally came to the conclusion that the problem wasn't me, it was society. I didn't ask to have breasts, not even ample breasts, but because I don't look like every other male doesn't mean I am different. It just means I am me and why shouldn't I be comfortable physically as well as mentally. If I have breasts and need support because breasts don't support themselves, it shouldn't matter to anyone else. That doesn't mean I am any less of a male than a male with no breasts. It just means I need a garment that is incorrectly associated as a female only garment. How many females DON'T have breasts? Does that make them less of a female? Of course not so why should a male having breasts be less of a male?

[DW20]

Well said. 
It would be totally out of order to belittle a flat chested lady.
It should be exactly the same for well endowed men.
We need some  positive way forward to make this happen

[Johndoe1]

Education is the key but it's going to take time. At least a generation. It amazes me how many women are not aware that they are not the only humans who can have breasts. Once they realize and understand, they really feel bad.

[MarcoB]

Society can be a strange thing.  I grew up in another country, and a part of that country, where women breast-feeding their infants in public was a normal thing, and nobody gave it a second thought.  They weren't discrete about it either, and it was common to see a huge breast out there, laid bare for all to see, the whole thing, even the nipple if the child "unlatched" for a breather and then went back on after half a minute of looking around.  Here in the States, for the first 25 years of sports bras' existence, they were strictly undergarments, and were absolutely to be concealed.  Then, in 2001 IIRC, that soccer player threw off her jersey in celebration of a victory at the end of the game, exposing her atrociously fitting sports bra for all the world to see on TV, and women suddenly felt liberated from the forced hush-hush.  Today sports bras are accepted as outerwear in public, and even non-sports bras are hardly hidden anymore, in fact sometimes they're flaunted.

Women wearing sports bras will always be more common than men wearing bras of any kind to remedy the problems brought on by breasts that resulted from hormones gone awry; but I still hope there will be a day when society comes to accept it.  What causes acceptance, and what causes rejection, ridicule, whispers, wide eyes, and mothers trying to divert their children's eyes?  In the country where I grew up, kids also poked fun at other kids who wore glasses.  I needed glasses myself as a kid.  I remember some whose vision was absolutely terrible but they wouldn't admit they needed glasses.  One girl had to get right up to the chalk board in class to copy things into her notebook.  "No, I can see just fine.  I just do better up here."  The front row of desks wasn't nearly close enough for her.  Why the shame, when there was a legitimate need?  I really don't know.

Since having my own problem and researching it, including finding this forum, I have noticed other men's breasts a lot more.  I ride bicycle a lot, and last week I saw a youngish man riding shirtless, with breasts that were hanging down more than two inches, maybe close to three.  In our society, somehow it's not acceptable to put a bra on them.

Part of the problem is undoubtedly that part of bras' designs is not just for function but for sexualizing women, and also that many women enjoy lingerie that's pretty and sexy, even if they would never show it off.  For puberty-age girls, or even a little pre-puberty, there's a desire to identify as more grown up, so they want a bra before there's even any soreness or irritation to relive, let alone any unsightly shape to remedy.  I'm sure we on this forum can identify with the need for such relief better than they.

The path to acceptance and understanding will be long, but hopefully we'll get there.

[CoffeeAndCake]

Read an article on. This awhile ago and it was essentially noted how much revenue the industry is losing by isolating it to only as marketing it as a female garment vs a chest support garment. Imagine how wonderful it would be if men with this issue had the comfort and confidence to wear a bra or chest support and not be considered gay perverted or suspect even if they are bearded and muscular or other no where near female appearance.  Crazy how no matter what it is seen as female only 

[DW20]

I can remember a time when no woman would even contemplate wearing trousers it was specifically forbidden at the colleges I attended. As for church...........
I can't  really remember quite how it came to be acceptable.
I can only imagine it was a younger generation and sheer scale of numbers who were prepared to buck the trend and basically said "to hell with this, trousers are practical"
Wearing a bra is not so "in your face" so it should theoretically be easier.
Personally, as I have said before, Bra wearing is second nature to me now.
If they can wear our trousers we can wear their bras.... or anything else.
Historically male and female attire was much the same skirts for instance were to a large extent male (I certainly would not have told a Roman governor, much less a soldier that he was dressed effeminately)
Trousers for men came in with horse riding and I suspect horses and bicycles had the same effect for women - it was just a more practical thing to do.
Bras are nothing more than a practical non sexual item of clothing. This why I hinted in OP that they perhaps need to be sold in the mens aisles in plainer material under some more masculine name
BRA WEARERS OF THE WORLD UNITE.
Come on you youngsters. Make the argument  and more importantly do it. You can make the difference.

PS. I do practice what I preach firstly in hot weather but now as summer routine and around the house I wear mini /knee length skirts usually in denim or in plain cotton calico. Far cooler and more comfortable than shorts
The problem is at age 70+ I am not regarded as a a world changer - only as eccentric



O

[JohannK]

The whole internet knows that a bra is a practical piece of clothing designed to support breasts (that men don't have).  That is why it's the only article of clothing that will always inherently be gendered.

See the logic here?

[DW20]

JohannK
The whole world knows that 95%(?+) of the internet is piffle when it comes to searching for real reliable info on subjects that really matter

[CoffeeAndCake]

Yeah bras weren’t sexual until they were made sexual. Push ups, lace, balconette, plunge, colors, fashions etc. marketed and advertised on models walking around in them crossing arms to enhance the volume leaning forward to give a peak side shots to show the lift and well men are aroused by it. And by breasts in general so marketing and advertising bras as such gendered items I believe is solely the reason men in bras is seen as a perversion or queer and not a necessity or normal item of support. 

[JohannK]

JohannK
The whole world knows that 95%(?+) of the internet is piffle when it comes to searching for real reliable info on subjects that really matter

Unfortunately this is how the internet reasons, and I'm pretty sure lots of people out there feel the same away from the internet.  And it certainly doesn't help men with breasts to get what they/we need...

After all, the whole internet also knows that if a man has breasts, he just has to lose weight.

[OHboobs]

Seinfeld had probably the only real mainstream discussion of men wearing bras to support their breasts. And while there were some jokes, it did address that there is a need/market for such an item.  But while Aluminum poles are sold every year for Festivus, no one has decided to sell a Manseirre/Bro.

[gmast]

Yeah bras weren’t sexual until they were made sexual. Push ups, lace, balconette, plunge, colors, fashions etc. marketed and advertised on models walking around in them crossing arms to enhance the volume leaning forward to give a peak side shots to show the lift and well men are aroused by it. And by breasts in general so marketing and advertising bras as such gendered items I believe is solely the reason men in bras is seen as a perversion or queer and not a necessity or normal item of support.

I disagree. It is unusual that men wear bras, and most of the men wearing them that get noticed are perverted or not heterosexual, and that is the reason men in bras is seen as a perversion.  I do not ever recall noticing that a guy was wearing a bra that was not also wearing high heels.   If I've seen other guys with gynecomastia wearing bras, they hid them well enough that I did not notice.   

[DW20]

GMAST
How did you notice something that is so well hidden that you saw it?
Truth is regarding bras is that they are always seeable to some degree.
The other truth is more comforting as you hint. You have to draw attention to yourself before people really look such as by wearing heels or just by nervous behaviour.
I have confessed elsewhere that I wear skirts as a practical, comfortable, cool alternative to shorts. I choose plain colours in denim or calico, A line or straight ending on, or better still just above the knee. From a distance they are indistinguishable from shorts, at close quarters they are unseen below eyeline.
One very close friend I had to meet a number of times before being noticed - that was as  i  walked away after a 20min conversation.
Only once have I been aware of being "seen" and that was by a lady. Our eyes see millions of things - think back over your  day how many of the millions of images and "videos" that you know must have streamed in are are actually "recorded". We only really see a fraction of  what our eyes take in,
Wear a bra if you need to , don't feminise and the chances are you will not be really noticed. In any case you will not lose any real friends...... the rest don't matter

[DW20]

JohannnK

Your last post illustrates the point well. We need to spread knowledge of the little known truth that breasts are rampant throughout the whole species homo sapiens.
Ironic that "sapiens" means knowledge or wisdom.
Breasts in their infinite variety of size and shape are present in all mammals regardless of gender. There may a majority of large breasts in females but there is no scientific correlation of size with degree of masculinity or femininity. You have what genetics deals out. 
The big ones in particular will need support regardless.  FACT