Entry tags:

The Great Internet Bra Debate
How dirty is your bra?

Someone sent a letter to Dear Prudence asking if his girlfriend was normal because she's worn the same bra every day for two weeks. Prudie gives her usual inadequate and perplexing answer, starting with:

Perhaps your worries about hygiene arise from watching too much soft-core porn in which women get in the shower and soap their breasts for extended periods.

Reader comments range everywhere from ick:

I always wear a clean bra each day, just like I wear clean underwear EACH DAY. I've never heard of such a thing in my life as wearing the same clothes every day for weeks on end, especially not undergarments. And no, I'm not "filthy" rich. I grew up in a single wide trailer with extremely poor, hardworking parents, who taught me the value of SOAP and daily bathing.

to double standard!

Am I the only perosn who sees the endless gender-based double standard in society today? If this question was posed by a woman with a boyfriend who wore the same boxers for a week, the response would have centered around the boyfriend's level of evolution.

to several comments about how bras are expensive and wear out in the wash, bras don't get as dirty as undies, several comments asking how the guy knows she doesn't wash it, maybe she has several bras that look exactly the same, and there's even an informal poll asking how long people wear bras between washings. One of the best answers to the poll:

15 minutes. i have to take it off before me wife comes back

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

fern_on_fen
2009-08-28 06:59 pm UTC (link)

I can't do more than one day. I live in Texas, so after I wear a bra, there's literally a WHOLE THING of sweat just burnt into the cups.

Basically, anyone who lives where it's pretty dang hot, I would judge for wearing their bras more than a day in a row.

Anywhere where it's more temperate, I can see wearing up to 3 days.

2 weeks? NEVER, EVER AN OPTION. Good GOD. Does it move of it's own accord? Is it sentient?

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	rikiki 2009-08-28 11:44 pm UTC (link)
	I don't know. I imagine it would depend on individual sweat levels and how much you do outdoors. Like, I live in SC, and I'll wear mine up to three days. I do tend to give them a sniff test though, just in case. Agreeing on the two weeks, though. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	fern_on_fen 2009-08-29 12:40 am UTC (link)
	Well, I only put a bra on when I'm going out, and when I go out, I tend to get sweaty. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	jerel 2009-08-30 02:40 am UTC (link)
	Sniff test, definitely. I mean, on some occasions, when you take it off and it's just damp, you toss it in the laundry right away. I can usually get away with about 3 days... Two weeks? I would think the inside of the cups would feel pretty nasty against your skin, even if you were the type not to sweat a lot. (Reply to this)(Parent)

(Read comments) -