Bra straps

[bill44b]

I don't understand why everyone is worried about hiding there bra straps when the "bumps" on the front of there shirt are larger. I for one don't care if anyone see the small bra bumps. If you need the support, wear your bra with pride. I have worn a bra for over 30 years and only two female coworker have asked if I was wearing a bra. I answered yes, that I needed the support for my breasts. Both of them agreeded that was a good reason and nothing else was said!

[expedient-traveller]

Your logic is undeniable! I never considered that aspect of wearing a bra before. My concern was always one of concealment which involved squashing the "guests/ girls" with a tight sports bra. This will be my first summer wearing a bra since the "guests" have decided to make their presence known a little more forcefully. The sports bra is a bit heavier and could be very uncomfortable in hotter weather since I must do a lot of outdoor work once the weather warms up (heating and cooling tech). Thanks for the good sense and sage advice.

[hammer]

I don't understand why everyone is worried about hiding there bra straps when the "bumps" on the front of there shirt are larger. I for one don't care if anyone see the small bra bumps. If you need the support, wear your bra with pride. I have worn a bra for over 30 years and only two female coworker have asked if I was wearing a bra. I answered yes, that I needed the support for my breasts. Both of them agreeded that was a good reason and nothing else was said!

Bill, those were women and they seem so much more understanding of men wearing bras to support breast, go figure!

You must remember, not all men are able to look at things like some of us do! They lose their self esteem and self confidence even if they have the smallest of boob development you've ever seen!

I've never cared what other people think about anything at all! People even use to ask me in the Navy, " petty officer ski, you enjoy your own company don't you?" And my reply was always yes! I'm always with my 3 best friends, me, myself and I, the ones I can trust with anything!

I never worried what others thought and I still don't, so if I need to support my 46H breast, I do as others here on the forum do in acceptance and as you do, but not everyone is able to have that self confidences so that's where we come in, to help build that up!

It's easy for some of us as we know it doesn't change who we are, but some take time to accept that they need to support something they never asked for or expected!

I like to remind people that having boobs and putting a bra on to support them no more changes who you are then standing in the garage will make you a car!

Bob

[bill44b]

I guess that I have worn a bra for so long that I treat it as just a garment that I put on every day and don't think about until night when its time to take it off.

[aboywithgirls]

Same here. My wife and I both have breasts and we both wear a bra for the dame reason. The girls I work with wrar a bra for the same reason. They all know that I wear a bra unless they are blind. We all have breasts. We all wear bras. I don't apologize for having breasts or wraring a bra. I've been wraring a bra so long that putting it on is completly automatic including making certain that it the right bra for the right top.

[expedient-traveller]

When we are new to the need for support of our breasts and never having had to do it before, there is a fear level that is mixed with perceived expectation of society and our own internal set of personal expectations. Society says and pushes that only women need bras. Our own heads say the same because we are generally the product, more or less, of the society we dwell in. The expectations of society are trumpted by the requirements of need. If we need support then not getting that support is foolish,we overcome our personal taboo regarding wearing a bra by support and a conscious effort to meet our need.

I had a fear about wearing a bra but I had to in order to provide the support my breasts needed and I am far more comfortable being supported. People at work have found out I have breasts and there is nothing but "support" for me. I stood within 3 feet of my boss while wearing a bra that does not smash my boobs flat, almost, and there was no comment or recognition of me wearing a bra.

In my own head I feel my breasts are sticking straight out and I will check my chest every time I pass a mirror. Not once have I been sticking out as far as my head said I was. I have worn a support bra that does hold me up and push me forward, did not know it would, and only then did reality match my expectation. It was a comfortable bra but I cannot wear it as it would be improper. I will wear a bra that is a support device and not an advertising device.

I had to come to a balance in my head about wearing and not wearing. To not wear one when there is a need to wear one is improper. In conclusion, finally, do I have breasts: yes; Do I need a bra: yes; do I care about what others think: yes; will their thoughts about my bra wearing have any effect on my life: NO. Life is good regardless of what others think because God cares for us and is always there for us regardless of what we have growing on our chests!

[aboywithgirls]

Bra straps are just part of wearing a bra and wearing a bra is part of having breasts. Women deal with the same issues every day.

I gave up caring and hiding a long time ago. High school was rough  but that was a long time ago.  I've learned to accept that having breasts and . wearing a bra is just what I do. Just as women around the world do every day.  I'm just another person who wears.a.bra.

[aboywithgirls]

I just wanted to add that wearing a bra is part of have breasts and dealing with bra straps is part of wearing a bra. 
When I consider my alternatives :
1) having an unnecessary double mastectomy.  No.
2) go bra less and let my 38G "girls" run wild. No.
Wearing a bra and dealing with bra straps is still my best option. I guess that's why I'm hear in the acceptance area of gynecomastia.org. I have accepted my breasts as well as being responsible and taking care of them.  I get regular exams as well as mammograms. I also wear a proper fitting bra just like any woman does.  
We don't give a second thought of our undershirt showing. I I can go without an undershirt for.the day. However I don't think I can go bra less for.the day.

[hammer]

I guess I'm a bad boy with my breast then! I go bra less, a lot lately! I've been kicked back recovery from that last back surgery and not wearing a bra, but maybe twice a week when I start feeling the pull on my neck too much!
As for the straps. It is very hard to find bras with straps that are long enough, and that is why formal fittings are very helpful!
I guess I don't take my breast and bra wearing as serious as some of you! I don't sleep in one, nor do I wear one every day, and when I do wear one I only wear a tee shirt over it, and sometimes an open button down shirt.

[ALAR]

While I feel my breasts look bigger in a bra esp when outside and more conscious of it I decided to test it out more empirically and took a snap braless and wearing.  I don't think in my case the bringing of the breasts together creates more perception of breasts but I do think there are definitely more humps as my breasts do hang a bit not too much I don't think. 

[aboywithgirls]

No question about it Bill. You are like me, much better off with a bra. I could not even imagine going bra less. I really think that I would feel naked. 

[bill44b]

With my "girls" in front I just don't care who sees the small bumps in back. I can almost say that I wear my bra with pride. Just watching people most are so busy with their lives they don't even notice what is going on around them including men with "girls" or bras. 

[expedient-traveller]

Over the last 2 days I have been wearing a bra that is not smashing my "guests/girls" down, which for me is a very big thing since I usually hide my "assets". I have talked with bosses here at work, co-workers and other as well and no one has made a single comment about straps, or what is sticking out from my chest. I felt sure someone would say something, but no...nothing. I would also normally stoop over slightly to further "disguise" my chest but I have been walking "taller" and letting my chest point the way...so to say. It is much more comfortable standing up straight than stooping.
I am a long way from being 100% comfortable in public with my "guests/girls" since I have not had to really worry about them since they were 44AA for so very long, until the last year and particularly the last 6 months. It is as if they are trying to make up for lost time and are constantly tingling, itching, sore and growing. I am now a 44 A+/B, which is huge to my way of thinking but some of you guys...gosh oh golly, gee wiz! I do not know how you got to be so comfortable with your "assets", more power to you.

[Alchemist]

Over the last 2 days I have been wearing a bra that is not smashing my "guests/girls" down, which for me is a very big thing since I usually hide my "assets". I have talked with bosses here at work, co-workers and other as well and no one has made a single comment about straps, or what is sticking out from my chest. I felt sure someone would say something, but no...nothing. I would also normally stoop over slightly to further "disguise" my chest but I have been walking "taller" and letting my chest point the way...so to say. It is much more comfortable standing up straight than stooping.
I am a long way from being 100% comfortable in public with my "guests/girls" since I have not had to really worry about them since they were 44AA for so very long, until the last year and particularly the last 6 months. It is as if they are trying to make up for lost time and are constantly tingling, itching, sore and growing. I am now a 44 A+/B, which is huge to my way of thinking but some of you guys...gosh oh golly, gee wiz! I do not know how you got to be so comfortable with your "assets", more power to you.

Hi expediant-traveller,

 I do not know how you got to be so comfortable with your "assets"

Most of us grew up with breasts from puberty going through hell in jr high and high school during a period when surgery wasn't an option, especially not cosmetic surgery.  Once you get towards a C "hiding" is a joke.  It's easier to spot the guys hiding breasts from a distance than it is to see the breasts.  Baggy shirts over baggy shirts is hot, uncomfortable and while it may increase the "doubt" a little, mixed with shadows and bulges, I was shocked to see how little they were hidden in pictures taken of me.  From about C cup and larger they are outstanding,

So what do you do? Nothing,.   Outside of school environment and in today's environment of sexual harassment and prosecution, people are a lot more polite.  People have Bart Simpson as a model for what to say to anybody that says something rude.  They don't know what slot (GLBTI or gyne) you fit in, so even if they were inclined to say something they are afraid of getting it wrong.  Look around you without tuning out everybody and all fashion.  You will see lots of breasts of all sizes on men, many not hiding any more at all.  It's showing up in incidental  advertisements on TV and reality shows and big cable productions with lots of bare chests.

In the last 30 years, I have had 1 comment made to me and overheard several others.  One was an older man asking his wife about me and her saying "It must be glandular".  Another wasn't so understanding at a public pool that had kicked a woman out for being bare chested combing her hair in the ladies locker room.  The employee was later corrected.  None the less there is an extreme anti body sentiment around here.  And kids react honestly and that makes their parents squirm.
 
It helps to see the cosmic humor of bodies.  Everybody is in one they don't like for some reasons or other.   I found that the nudist environment where one deals with body shame in general is a good place for good experience.  One also gets a real unvarnished look at bodies, ordinary normal unique bodies.  At some point it becomes "parts is parts" and people are not all the parts they have or don't have, hanging off their bodies.  And if one is studying spiritual metaphysics at some point one realizes that "I" is not the body.

[expedient-traveller]

Thanks Alchemist: good comment.