Interesting

[aboywithgirls]

I just wanted to add this about my own experience.

I needed a bra long before I had any use for a razor. I was 12 years old when my mom sat me down for the " bra talk". I realize that most here probably didn't have this conversation with their own mother. By the time I was 16, I was large enough that I had to wear a bra full time. I still had not started to or even having any need to shave.

I was probably 22 years old before I had any facial hair to even bother with even thinking about shaving. In contrast, I had a top drawer full of bras that I had been wearing for six years.

I clearly had and still have more use for a bra than a razor. I have to wear a bra every day. I only use a razor to clean up a slight mustache once a week.

[42CSurprise!]

Looking at it from that perspective we likely see how the hormone mix that brought us breasts also diminished the heaviness of the hair that grew on our faces and bodies.  I've had a beard for most of my adult like but it was very slow in developing and has never been thick.  I have NO hair on my legs, and only light hair on my chest and arms.  But I do have breasts that have grown considerably in the last few years.  All of that said, it seems the topic under discussion is how we come to terms with not fitting the gender stereotype.  ABWG is probably one among very few who discussed breast development with their mother.  I was putting on brassieres but they belonged to my neighbor and if anyone found out I'd have been in big trouble.  Also, my diminutive breasts at that age needed assistance to fill out the brassiere cups, especially so since my neighbor was quite voluptuous.  But that is another story

[MarcoB]

Looking at it from that perspective we likely see how the hormone mix that brought us breasts also diminished the heaviness of the hair that grew on our faces and bodies.  I've had a beard for most of my adult like but it was very slow in developing and has never been thick.  I have NO hair on my legs, and only light hair on my chest and arms.  But I do have breasts that have grown considerably in the last few years.  All of that said, it seems the topic under discussion is how we come to terms with not fitting the gender stereotype.  ABWG is probably one among very few who discussed breast development with their mother.  I was putting on brassieres but they belonged to my neighbor and if anyone found out I'd have been in big trouble.  Also, my diminutive breasts at that age needed assistance to fill out the brassiere cups, especially so since my neighbor was quite voluptuous.  But that is another story

I had thought of posting a survey about body / facial / head hair versus breast growth.  I have virtually no leg hair (a woman would be jealous) and very little chest hair, and my arm hair is mild for a man.  I have a beard, not a thick one though.  I lost the hair on the top of my head in my 20's, but that seems to be, according to one doctor, because of the particular shampoo I was using, which was great for dandruff but made your hair fall out.  My breast problem started four years ago at age 57, and I did not initially realize that the pain was because growth was starting.  Fortunately it's plenty small to hide (and if my mother's small breast size is any indication, I shouldn't have much to worry about in that respect), but going without a bra or bralette of some kind is very uncomfortable.  Jogging is the worst!  My new favorite is the Jockey Cotton Allure bralette, although the largest size (XL) is just barely big enough.  https://www.jockey.com/catalog/product/jockey-womens-cotton-allure-bralette

For our son's 30th birthday recently, my wife gave him a shirt.  I had said earlier that in junior high and high school he had quite a Hershey's-Kiss-sized bump on his left breast, and I was concerned that he would get ridiculed for it; but he never said anything about it.  He's very quiet though.  At this birthday gathering, he changed his shirt in front of everyone, to try on this new one, and although he did not take off his undershirt, it was obvious that this skinny young man with a beard and loads of leg hair had breasts as big as his tiny wife's.  I'm sure she has thought (or said out loud at home in private), "It's not fair!  My own breasts should at least be bigger than my husband's!"

The head post reminded me of this video though, of a girl with a thick beard that she had to shave every day, and still got ridiculed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z6bL7yReJY

[Evolver]

At risk of sounding a bit misogynistic - which I absolutely refute - I've got a bit more to say about normal or expected gender stereotypes, which I mentioned earlier.

I think I might have also already mentioned some of the following a couple of months ago.

Firstly I must declare that I have not seen the show that curiousk referred to when he started this thread. 

The lady shaves her face. I know it isn't in the same league, but isn't this just a massive magnification of what many post-menopausal or elderly women do now, dealing with errant hairs growing out of their chins? What about shaving legs and underarms, which is now considered de rigueur for all western women? There are probably more shaving and grooming products available for women than men when dealing with facial and body hair! A woman buying shaving products whether for herself or her man would also be considered normal, but a man buying a bra? Yes, it should be normal for those who need to, but I suspect would be viewed with suspicion most of the time unless the client has built a good relationship with the salesperson or has gone to a specialty store, yet there are still the reactions from other customers to deal with.   

Jeans were invented for men working in mines around 150 years ago. Women didn't commonly wear pants until well into last century and I was surprised to just learn that Levi's didn't release jeans designed for women until 1934. Now it is normal for women to shop for and wear jeans especially designed for them if they want to - and they look fantastic - but it is not normal for a man to buy and wear a bra if he needs to, let alone if he wants to. 

Regarding underwear, up until maybe the 1970's it was y-fronts for men, full cut panties or girdles for women. Thankfully there is much more choice available now for both genders, and women now commonly buy and wear a style known as boyleg briefs. But is it common for men to buy 'girl leg' briefs instore and get away with it? No!

Sorry, but the more I think about it, the less sympathy I have for Krystal. 

I guess the question is, how can it be made fashionable for men to wear bras? 

[curiousk]

Great conversation with a lot of great points being made.  I'm not sure if it will ever be fashionable or acceptable in society for men to wear bras or women having facial hair.  In my opinion, it all comes down to the acceptance of your situation.  I've chose not to have surgery to remove my breasts, so wearing a bra is the way I'm choosing to deal with them.  I just thought that the parallels between the 2 were interesting.

Like ABWG, I had breasts long before I had a need to shave.  I've had very little body hair all of my life.  In the same way it was difficult to be a 11-12 year old boy with B cup breasts, how tough would that be to be a 13-14 year girl that needed to shave her face every other day or have a 5 o clock shadow. 

Hormones do some crazy things to the human body!!

[aboywithgirls]

For me, It's as simple as I have big boobs and for me, a bra is the best way to manage them. I could elect to wear a binder, or have a double, radical mastectomy.

A woman with facial hair has options as well. She can shave daily or elect to undergo electrolysis.

I can say that I am grateful that I have a large selection of cute bras in my size to chose from. Being a 36H, it wasn’t long ago when women in my size had black, white, and beige bras only.

[curiousk]

Yeah, the bras I have are beige, black and gray.   The next bra I buy will have either a different color or a funky pattern.  I think that would be cool.  After all, I'm the only one who will know.  I don't have a need for a new bra anytime soon.   The ones I have still fit great and are in great condition.  

[Johndoe1]

My bra colors range from black to grey to blue and different shades of beige. I had ordered a red bra but the shop was out of stock on that color in my size so I opted for the blue color instead. In my size there are some bright colors and interesting patterns and details and the next bras I buy will be more visually interesting. I am getting tired of the same utilitarian bras.

[GrahamB]

Blows out alot of established norms eh?

I am a seasoned beautician in the USA. I am a specialist in the waxing services. The beauty shop standard for women with facial hair is waxing. The percentage of women needing waxing is more than 'most'. So prevalent is the service that there is a warm wax pot on the shampoo bar behind the shampoo bowl in almost all beauty salons and in barber shops to pull those pesky nose and ear hairs. The attraction to waxing of course would be smooth skin, however a side affect is that the violence to the root of the Hair discourages regrowth. As a matter of fact after a couple dozen times the regrowth on ANY area of the body can get to be less than 25% of the original.