Great article! Hilarious! I love the lion-hedgehog comparison. Ignore the shamers, they'll crash & burn on their own soon enough, especially if nobody (ok, nobody who matters) pay attention to them.
Yoga - have you been to India??? Totally different scenarios there. And very few tight bods in sight. You could also seek out a video of Jessamyn Stanley; body positive wisdom, people!
Ommmm...
4
Good for you! My Mom claims that men, including me, 'like to be naked,' which she 'doesn't understand.' That's repression talking - next step? Go to hot NUDE yoga. !
2
Not too long ago, a guy was doing yoga poses in a Planet Fitness here in Massachusetts, completely buck naked. When he was arrested, he commented, 'but I thought it was a judgement free zone'. Funniest news story in a long while. Naked yoga anyone?
14
I love this. Most women who exercise will internally grapple with this at one point or another, because it calls up everything we have to deal with as owners of our bodies, and of a class saddled with particular external expectations pertaining to the former.
I've always been in shape and confident BUT it took me until this year to become a bra girl. Being the owner of a nonstandard sized chest makes finding an athletic bra that doesn't pinch/suffocate comically difficult. I also hate inviting unwanted attention, as I'm a runner who lives in the city... which is a whole other, not very sunny conversation. At the same time however (like so many other commenters here- cheers!) I warm up easily and sweat like crazy. In one of the hottest summers on record, the bra won out.
When training indoors though, I prefer wearing things over the bra to keep my sweat to myself!
21
I literally laughed out loud reading this! Love your wit! Write more!
6
Unless you're a tennis star in triple digit courtside heat! "Female Tennis Player Removing Shirt at U.S. Open Exposes Double Standard: Alize Cornet was penalized for taking off her shirt on the court, an act male players do regularly."
http://www.realclearlife.com/sports/female-tennis-player-removing-shirt-...
What a shame!
9
I’ve always turned to this newspaper to keep abreast of the times........
11
Jen Spyra, you should have your own show.
6
Smart, funny and extremely well written. If you could say that about 10% of the op-ed pieces running here you’d be an optimist, so I can’t understand the venom in some comments. This level of wit elevates the NYT and provides a much needed respite from the often chronically self rightous and preachy pieces that litter the section. If I may make a wish, please run more wit and less cant. No wonder this lady writes for the Colbert show. If you want brains look in TV’s writers rooms.
10
I found this essay rather sad. It's past time that we have shame around our bodies. As a man, I've also pushed back. In my 20s I was the classic image of the hot shot California surfer, but I liked Speedos. So I wore them. The heads turned. The lips snarled. I didn't care. My body, my rules. And my body rules, even still at 55.
5
I didn't know this was a thing until I read this article, but it's definitely a thing! My own personal experience came several months ago ... Never thought I could do it, dared to do it, now love to do it!
2
Gosh, I'd rather skip both exercising and the bra. A t-shirt, maybe a bralette, and a well made old-fashioned just feels right.
3
It’s hard to find a well-made old fashioned unless I make it myself.
1
These anxieties are why I choose not to exercise around other people. Gyms in general weird me out. I prefer the anonymity of the streets. If you've ever worn true bike clothing, you might as well be riding around Manhattan in a jockstrap. Somehow the practice is generally accepted in polite society. I suppose bikers move too fast for most people to notice they aren't wearing much of anything. Besides, people get away with a lot worse in standard, non-athletic New York fashion.
Even better than the streets though is getting away from the city all together. Concrete paradise or concrete dungeon? I prefer forests and lakes now. Mountains too. You walk few miles from the trail head, there's no one around to care what you're wearing, not wearing, or how you look in it. Quite simply, exquisite.
2
Ha! This was awesome. Bra girls with big tummies unite!
4
I find that the "camel toe" effect of too-tight leggings is much more embarrassing than a silly sports bra.
9
Great work Jen. I feel your pain. As a guy with not exactly wash board abs jogging in the hot summer poses a similar dilemma.
I wish the Times would have more articles like this. Especially on Fridays. Not everything has to be about the idiot in the White House.
19
You make it sound so wonderful I'm tempted to try being a Bra Bro next time I do yoga.
2
I read this after a work out where a bra girl was taking the class, I laughed so hard my abs are still hurting,
1
Is this Jill Newsworthy? Congratulations on your piece appearing in the times, and leading the way with another element of gender discrimination.
"wears only a sports bra"
Really?
1
Bra-va.
1
I balked at the title.
NYT: Please stop telling us what we "Should" be doing.
I subscribe to your publication because you provide news and comment for free thinking readers. Having "should"s in the titles of articles is rather patronising and not in line with my sense of what you are about.
"Could" works just as well in most cases . . .
7
:)) maybe the nyt is emerging from its censorious muddle... very good!
I need pictures
Laughed so hard, almost shot the celerly I was eating (yes, trying to achieve bra girl abs) onto the computer screen.
Oh, golly; it is all about women who are fortunate enough to have small breasts; otherwise, running is impossible!
1
"Natalie Portman is not a Bra Girl. Malcolm Gladwell is." Thanks for this! Hilarious!
2
Merkel is a "bra girl? How do I fget that image out of my head?
1
Delightfull
1
I regularly enter Planet Fitness's judgment free zone, but I confess, I sometimes do make judgments.
Because I certainly do not challenge the buff hunk category, I do insist on loose outer clothing. After all, I'm such a vision in my compression wear, I don't want to demoralize anybody or distract them from setting their own goals.
So. Have pity.
This is the funniest article I've read in a long time. It is so spot on. Please write a book.
2
I like the idea of it being liberating, I do. But if I am getting all sweaty at yoga, I would rather have a nice fitted tshirt on to soak up the sweat instead of sweating all over my mat. Same thing at the gym on the machines. Clothes during workouts serve a purpose, just like sports bras. So if you see me at the gym, know that I am rocking my tshirt NOT out of shame, but out of common sense/courtesy.
11
Soon pasties will do. This crowd just recently climbed out of trees. Yuck. the sign of our hopelessly eroded society.
3
As a proud American, I want to see less and less of our expanding national gut- at the gym, mall, tennis court, etc. From an aesthetic standpoint it is simply gross. Come to think of it, we really need two things in this country- more Trump shaming and more fat shaming. That is clearly the right path to our national salvation.
1
@Crusader Rabbit--More fat shaming-seriously? If you see an overweight person at the gym or exercising on the street you want to "fat shame" them? How about applauding them for getting out there when it's really tough for them to make that effort. Shame on you. What we really need is for more people to MYOB.
5
I love this (and I love fluff in the NYT, despite what others say - don't read it if you don't want to, I say - this is a great message to share with as many folks as possible). As a sportswoman who is so proud of all her sisters that work out, whatever their ability, means, or shape, I am increasingly thrilled to see ladies do this. Also witness some more progressive/egalitarian sports apparel companies such as Oiselle and Title Nine using real women of all shapes and sizes as models. Oiselle, in particular, has many normal ladies, side by side with their elite athletes, even - and in their jog bras only (and shorts, too).
2
This was hilarious--and so relatable!
Thanks for starting my morning with a laugh.
2
I'm overweight and have big boobs so giant T shirt for me at the gym. I don't want to gross anyone out. But if you have a great body, go for it.
This is old new Ms. Spyra. Just to prove that we were tolerant, San Francisco, a few years ago, allowed nude people to walk around in certain neighborhoods. In the Castro, formerly a gay neighborhood, now taken over by hipsters and such, at a stop, an old dude, with just a newspaper tucked under his arm walked across in the crosswalk. Don't worry about your not so chiseled stomach, this guy's belly had seen better days and it had a mind of its own... I yawned and hoped no one else sat in his same spot on the public bench until it had been disinfected.
I learned an important lesson from this. Now, I never sit on a bench in my gym locker room to change my clothes, put on my shoe, or do anything else and religiously use disinfectant on equipment before using them.
There are a few people who sashay around nude, sit and clip their nails, chat with their friends and take time changing. Who needs more germs that what they already have...I am already battling devious fruit flies that want my good wine not the crap I put out for them to commit suicide...anyone tried to kill their suckers? impossible.
"I Took My Shirt Off and So Should You"
i took my burka off and so should you
i took my khimar off and so should you
i took my niqab off and so should you
i took my chador off and so should you
i took my hijab off and so should you
i took my thawb off and so should you
i took my tunic off and so should you
i took my scarf off and so should you
i took my habit off and so should you
i took my collar off and so should you
i took my epaulets off and so should you
i took my uniform off and so should you
i took my mao suit off and so should you
i took my kimono off and so should you
i took my yukata off and so should you
i took my wedding dress off and so should you
i took my tuxedo off and so should you
i took my tie off and so should you
i took my shirt off and so should you
i took my trousers off and so should you
i took my miniskirt off and so should you
i took my bra off and so should you
i took my bikini off and so should you
i took my speedos off and so should you
i took my boxers off and so should you
i took my panties off and so should you
any questions?
10
You made my day...laughed my ass off, thank you.
2
Pshaw! If you had any balls you would exercise nude. There's nudist camp in my town. Been there for decades. I sprayed for mosquitoes there once. They didn't hide behind the bushes when I drove past. They were glad to see me.
2
I admit that there is some allure to being a Bra Girl, but first I'd have to get a bra. And an exercise class.
Still, I'm sure my chest hair would be fine the way it is.
1
Why is this newsworthy for the NYTimes?
6
This is fun and good, but I await the follow up oped piece: “I hate when people look at my boobs!”
Can’t have it both ways...
2
Why not? Men do
2
I will never be a bra girl....I hate wearing a bra... love the freedom of just a loose shirt. As a I get older...soon to be 65... the number of days I choose to wear a bra are fewer and few. I just don't care what other people/convention think
5
Does the NYT masthead still have "all the news that's fit to print"?
This should apply even to op-ed pieces, including those of Sunday Review.
The tendency to publish more and more "fluff" pieces is hardly what Mr. Ochs meant in 1897 when he came up with the slogan.
39
@Joshua Schwartz And yet many readers seemed to have enjoyed the article and learned something from it.
1
@Joshua Schwartz. Eww, snark much? Some of us actually possess senses of humor and appreciate this lighthearted break from the daily horrors of the news.
Plus, it has inspired me to be a Bra Girl! Wish it was published before all those sweaty t-shirt runs this summer!
2
@Joshua Schwartz
It's a humor/lifestyle piece. Gail Collins often does humor/politics. What's the difference? Do you want the times to eliminate their lifestyle section? By the way, you should look at the author. Jen Spyra is writer for the Colbert Show. You should have known what you were getting yourself into.
9
Word.
1
Loved the article, but question one point. How is Malcom Gladwell a bra girl? Seriously?
1
When Ms. Portman tells Bibi where to go, she is Queen, nay, Goddess of B.G. land. A fact, is a fact.
2
Fistpump to Brandi Chastain!
5
Meghan Markle tells you to go to hot yoga classes?
2
Malcolm Gladwell spent 6 months at my Bally’s doing a guerrilla report on bra girls which he scrapped in lieu of a made man position in the local Bra Girl triads
try naked yoga...go for the sublime.
How many readers know what a JCC is? And why is Natalie Portman (who would know) not a "bra girl"?
I'm sure Ms Spyra would still make fun of guys pumping iron and staring at the mirror...
What a dumb article. Is she trying to shame women giving her own reasons for why they wear what they wear to work out? It seems like she is projecting her own ideas onto everyone else. I don't need that; my own reasons are good enough for me.
1
Cutesy, but will the NY Times and its writers lay off the ageism: "J.C.C. locker room elderly..." Enough already. Soon enough, you will be old and get what I'm talking about: http://www.newclearvision.com/2011/12/16/old-who-me/
2
"It felt like walking into a mosque in light-up nipple tassels. " I found a literary gem.
13
I'm always kind of astonished by these pieces about how hard people work to overcome their societally-imposed anxiety and shame. Jeez, what are you paying attention to in the first place that's burdening you with all this misery? Stop paying attention to it. Stop looking at ads. Stop looking at the mirror. Stop thinking about your stupid bra. Go be of use.
5
Can you imagine the good it would do for America if Donald Trump would, for one day, try Bra Girl? Yoga pants and 3 1/2 inches of liberated flesh. Oh, the humility and liberation he'd experience.
But I don't want to watch.
Jen - You ROCK! If I were a bra girl someone would have seen my belly laughs!
26
First an anonymous op-ed, now this.
42
I long for the days when both thin and fat people wore an actual sweat suit at the gym instead of dressing for the gym/nightclub. I’m not sure when it became acceptable and practically expected for women, because it’s mostly women, to wear the least clothes and most revealing outfit to work out.
3
Textile technology has evolved since then.
Ms. Spyra, now I know why Stephen Colbert is so funny? With writers like you, all the guy is doing is reading the lines!
Hilarious piece, Jen! If it’s any comfort, in my native land where yoga originated, women cover everything except their midriff! BTW, while Bra Girl works, tell Stephen that Beard Guy doesn’t.
8
"Malcolm Gladwell is [a Bra Girl]."
One truth that is like a single, well-stocked resort island in amidst the sea of lies that has been the last 20 months.
I'm male and I go to my local YMCA nearly every day. I see lots of people of all ages and sizes. I see women and men who are young (most are younger than me), middle-aged (ditto), "Normal age" (ie, my age-- J/K) and older. I see them short, tall, medium. Skinny, fit&ripped, curvy, pear-shaped, and seriously overweight.
Very few, and I mean VERY few are fit enough to be envied.
The one difference is, of course, that women must deal with bras, and men must deal with...you know.
I do notice what people wear and sometimes I really wonder about it. I'm not ripped, and, in my 60's not likely to be, but I always wear runner's shorts (with pockets--always), a tee-shirt, socks and sneakers, now and when I was heavier. The only other things I "wear" are a sports watch/HR monitor, and joint supports.
VERY few women wear shorts--most wear leggings or warm-ups. Very few men wear leggings, but most do wear warm-ups. Some, both male and female, actually wear street clothes.
My point? Nobody, and I mean NOBODY cares what you wear--and if they do, it's none of their business! I may notice because I'm observant, but I don't care what you wear.
So, please wear what makes you comfortable when you work out. And remember this about working out:
It's not a race.
It's not a contest.
It's not a competition.
It's a journey toward health, strength, and a pain-free life for you and you alone, and to heck with what strangers think!
4
Good comic relief. But this oldster has gone to the next level, though tentatively. Shirt Woman. Sans bra. No more red shoulder marks, no more strained muscles trying to get the darned thing hooked, no more $50 for even a breath-less elastic sports version. It is indeed a state of mind. As is- age. (An aside to grocery clerks, cashiers, waitresses; don’t call me honey, dearie, sweetie. It’s- ma’am.)
3
Next: swim naked. That will truly make you free.
5
What's the difference between a sports bra and a modest bikini top? Not the skinny, covers-almost-nothing bikini top, but the more modest version that provides ample coverage above and below?
That said, body image is both internal and external. The external part influences how others react to you, and the internal part influences how you react to yourself. This in turn can affect how others react to you.
I haven't seen any fat shaming since high school, and even then it was rare. But then, I was a guy, and even a fat guy could call you out and you might end up behind the gym fighting someone twice your size, so we were all more careful then (except for the bullies). It's a different world now.
Thank you so much for this badly-needed humor in the midst of the dumpster fire that is politics in America. Every morning I brace myself before reading the NYT--is Kavanaugh, the pro-business, anti-choice, pro-gun, and pro-foundly unqualified candidate going to be confirmed? Are we finally going to plunge fully into fascism, after 45 is finished dipping various tiny orange digits into the pool of authoritarianism? These are tense, awful times. So thank you for the stress-relieving laughs, Ms. Spyra, even if it only lasts until I read Paul Krugman's column on the end of America.
3
She is so.
This is the same type of bold and audacious encouragement I need to put on a little bikini, like the overweight women I see in Europe! Or maybe not...
Really, why is this even an issue?
1
I really do not need anyone telling me what to wear.
2
Bravo for your bravado!
I lol'd. Well done.
Hilarious! As a fitness instructor it's so funny to read about the things that go on in others head and the realization that no one else is watching.
5
I love you!
This is actually hilarious and I loved reading it.
P.S. I am a Bra Girl
At the gym where I work out, guys wear baggy t-shirts and to-the-knee clown shorts. Women wear super-form-fitting yoga pants and tight, scoop-neck tops. The people-watching there has to be more fun for the guys.
(BTW, "tummy" is not a word that any adult should use to refer to their own anatomy.)
2
You had me at walking into a mosque in light-up nipple tassels. Crying out loud funny. Now I know why LSSC is so brilliant - thanks!
Men need to demand fair treatment. If women can wear sports bras in public gyms, men should be able to shed the shirt. It's only fair... right?
As long as you wear a bra!
@Bob Walters
No women should skip sport bra (yours is a fall comparison) and go topless - just like "the guys."
2
Jen, I love you. I want to have your baby.
7
Thank you so much for your brilliant hilarity! I laughed so hard I had ginger ale coming out my nose. Thank you, thank you.
27
Best essay ever!
So, in order to become a “bra girl” you need high-waisted yoga pants... You’re not free from feeling ashamed of your body, then. There isn’t much liberation in your story. I don’t understand why so many women allow themselves to be told what they should be wearing even in 2018. By the way, I’m a “bra woman” (not a girl) and I don’t care what other people think of my stomach. Why should I?
7
I never knew any of this. Unaware.
3
Once again at the US Open Tennis Novak Djokovic took his shirt off court side and no one batted an eyelid let alone receive a sanction from tennis authorities similar to the one received by the French woman player for showing her sport bra when she adjusted her top at the same tournament.
The essay goes to show how powerful the social and cultural forces are for women to self regulate displays of their natural bodies.
I exercise in a park shirtless as a guy and its natural and while a few women also exercise in sport bras in the same park, occasionally Ive had had women ask me to cover p, what if they wanted to exercise without a top?
3
Hey Bra Girl -- it turns out that waists aren't just a social construct, designed to catch a man's eye. No, we need waists to keep that causer of diabetes under control.
Yah. All that belly fat that you're just like, "Whatever" about? It's not innocent. It's not minding it's own business. It's messing up your glucose. So there's a hood health reason to get a waist.
4
Get back to me once *you* experience menopause.
2
Perhaps women's anatomy and the (undoubtedly, socially) acquired characteristic of pudicity make this article publishable.
But would a similar article about men wearing a cod piece in the previous centuries or very tight sports shorts nowadays be readable?
2
Why are Americans so childish about the human body? It’s laughable.
4
@Mike One word. Religion.
1
It’s always worth keeping in mind that almost nothing that anyone else thinks about you over the course of your life will ever have any meaningful impact on your own existence.
Life without living is no life at all.
@ubique
tell it to HR (or think about job interviews).
I loved the article right up until you said you only did it once!!?! So all the revelations and awesome feelings you had were what exactly?
3
awesome! hilarious! right on.
I’ve decided my next swimsuit will be a burkini, so I’m obviously not headed in the same direction as the author. However, the column did inspire a fantasy of someday doing my excercise routine, behind curtains and in the privacy of my own home, with my upper arms exposed.
33
Under the circumstances, becoming a B.G. for the duration of a yoga session, inside a studio, was pragmatic. Either it was that, or it was no yoga, an easy choice.
A great point was made that body image is a social construct, a fact to keep in mind. It's not anyone's job to judge another, even when one has an immediate, involuntary, visceral reaction to seeing someone exercise in undies. That said, I don't really care if anyone judges me or experiences a reaction when they see me exercising in practical, appropriate athletic apparel that covers my body.
Personally, I'm a no bra girl. Bras are tight and uncomfortable, IMHO. So it's just a sleeveless t-shirt and true freedom (and I'm a DD, so don't tell me some folks can and others can't). Take that, unrealistic body image!!
26
@SAS
I love you!
@SAS Just took a trip back to the U of Michigan Diag circa '68 in my mind. Thanks.
Going with the Less is More theme, I've been VERY tempted (when mowing the lawn, hanging out laundry, weeding the garden--I don't exercise just to exercise) to doff my sweaty shirt. Since a double mastectomy ten years ago left me with a bare, nipple-less rib cage, I've wondered if anyone would consider this obscene or distasteful? A few years back I ditched the clammy prosthetic "breast forms" after concluding that no one was looking at my fifty-year-old chest anyway. I may have thought of myself as still attractive on some level, but it was clear most of society barely noticed I existed. I suspect I could now go grocery shopping in scuba gear and no one would notice.
15
Alas, I can't do sports bras, but the feeling of exhilaration Ms. Spyra expressed vividly reminded me of the first time I went skinny-dipping in the lake on a hot summer day!
That feeling of freedom is rare and amazing...We need to somehow capture more moments like those in our lives!
10
Skinny dipping is a pleasure that everyone should enjoy -- no constrictions as all! many women I know and the girls they once were would never allow themselves the freedom because of body shame, whether from how they fear they look to others, or from seeing nudity as always and only sexual.
1
Funny Funny...as a male I’m not troubled with decisions around a sports bra, though at 74 and and a robust 258 I might well consider same. In the warmer months I’m never seen without a T Shirt on and hiking shorts (I’ve got stunning taut sticks) but alway a shirt or T of some sort. I left the Marine Corps in 68 a hardened 204, but the intervening years loaded me up with some spectacular scars as bits and pieces fell off or were pulled out, and then there is the added 54 pounds of whale blubber that, as with many men, just lays across our middle like deep snow over a field. So body issues can exist everywhere, but there’s nothing better than a well written piece to put it all in perspective and also puts a smile on your face.
13
Funny that I've never heard anyone mention or discuss this before but.... I agree!
I too typically thought an exercise bra was a 'bra', and therefore, an UNDERgarment. Yet, when I exercise at home, I typically like to just wear the bra. It's more comfortable, and I FEEL more in shape, and stand more erectly. Also, T-shirts tend to get in the way, especially because most T-shirts are not skin tight, so there's all this loose fabric about. Not to mention if you do a downward dog or plank or something, and all that fabric is just heading south. It does seem rather silly.
6
@Lisa
I wear synthetic, sweat absorbing, body hugging shirts to excercise in. While I have a tight, slim body and small chest, the dripping sweat running down my sides, with nothing to absorb it would be extremely uncomfortable to me. I now excercise at home but when at a gym, this attire is what I wear.
6
According to what I have seen, being a Bra Girl means that you are built like most women--short-waisted (and with at most a B or C cup). That's why you could do what you did because when you wear high-waisted legging, they were separated from your sports bra by about 3.5 inches.
For those of us who are long-waisted (and in my case, not only long-waisted but with very short legs to really set everything off) and have a post-menopausal tummy, we can either hide it all or just shrug our shoulders and exercise in our sports bra hand shorts or leggings because it means we are much cooler and don't visibly sweat except maybe on our neck and upper chest. I also don't do hot yoga because I'd probably pass out from the heat.
No one seems to care when I do that (and they don't avoid me) because like me, they are there to exercise and not do fashion critique.
2
Thank you Ms. Spyra for some fun - we need it.
6
Ladies no need to worry none of us are perfect and those who are, I love to look at and admire, the rest, let’s get on with life whether it be “us males” with bellies or you ladies with a slight sag here and there, a pleasant smile will supersede all.
5
This was hilarious. Thank you.
4
I ditched the shirt only once, in hot yoga. With mirrors on all four walls, I immediately regretted the choice but realized putting the shirt back ON in a room crowded with sweaty bodies would draw even more attention to my choice.
I tend to cover up. I have dozens of silly complaints about people who cluelessly offer up all sort of unintentional (I hope) anatomical details in their workout gear. The jiggle between your waistband and bra-strap though is hardly worth mentioning.
3
Bra-vo!! You go, girl!
I run without a shirt in the summer, because it's very steamy here in Sydney, and at 5:30 am, BTW. I have sometimes come across people I know (from work) they invariably tell me later how inappropriate it is. Wrong! And I though the US was puritanical.
6
Absolutely hilarious and happens to be exceptionally relevant to my current state - a newfound Bra Girl. Who may have the ‘Bra Girl tummy’ but has *forever* been insecure about having a very small chest to fill out said sports bra! Man, it’s tough being a woman. But congrats to you for taking the plunge and all the other Bra Girls out there. You never know, this may just inspire me to leave the gym and walk all the way home in one.
9
I am a Bra Girl. I have a tummy as tight as can be and muscles hard as a rock in my 50's. I have a tall, lithe athletic frame. It is freedom to rip off your shirt and cast aside cultural mores. The feeling of hot sun and wind on my back. Sweat running down my front. But you know what? I get dirty looks. I get sneers. I get whispers as I run by. Because I am a Bra Girl. I am hated. Envied. Stared at. We look at people that are both thinner and fatter than we are and say "They are not us". What is wrong with them?
4
@K Bennion
At 67 years old, B cup, size 2, I could easily be a bra girl. I work out hard and sweat profusely and wear a body hugging synthetic sweat absorbing shirt over my sports bra. The shirt is soaking wet after a workout and I do not have to feel the icky dripping of sweat on bare skin. You do you and I’ll do me and we will both be happy.
Does anyone understand the Natalie Portman reference? Came up empty on google.
11
Let’s just be a bit modest. Let’s be role models. I’ve worked out for many years and love it. No one is scared off by a neatly garbed female lifter. Gym clothes are fun - my latest T-shirt features Janice Joplin. No need to expose our undies!
2
I guess modesty doesn't exist anymore.
2
@Norton
Not even an issue. It's about the bra wearer, not the public sphere. It's about me, it's not about you.
4
@Norton It's been replaced by honesty.
2
@Norton
Sniff! Sniff! I say. Harumphhh!
1
Hilarious and wonderful! I can relate because I'm a 63-year-old Shorts Girl, vericose veins and all, because hey it's 85 degrees and I would swelter running in leggings! Thanks for helping me to own it :o)
7
Absolutely right, Bra Girl for a day. Now all we have to do is convince women that bras aren't necessary at all. (They're only nipples!!! Big deal! Men have them too!)
I was completely disgusted last week when I learned that the girls on the track team at our local public high school had been told NOT to practice (which includes running around the track) in sports bras. They were told that it's "distracting", and that it gives the girls "body issues". Meanwhile, the boys on all of the sports teams practice in the same space often with NO shirts. Infuriating.
263
I felt the same way in HS PE about our blue, one piece cotton poly snap front bloomer suits - the boys wore grey track shorts and t-shirts. So unfair.
Sports bras? Under the shirt for me, thanks.
7
@Yogini
Write a letter about the inequality and tell the boys to get over it. I lived in Europe where women don't wear any tops at the beach and the guys have been trained to not stare. We can do the same thing here.
34
@Yogini
YOU try going braless with G/H cup breasts, even at home for a couple of days. After that painful heat-sweat rash--maybe even fungal infection--get back to me.
The sad fact is that teenage girls DO have "body issues" and often are fat-shaming bullies. Boys, for the most part, don't--at least not vis a vis each other. Put T-shirts or loose tanks on all the kids in PE.
As for me in the gym, it's not just my post-menopause-belly I wish to hide--it's the flabby upper arms (and constantly slipping bra straps due to small sloping shoulders) that I vow not to expose outside my own home. And sports bras in my cup size are miserably uncomfortable. No, I'll wear a normal bra (one I can toss in my gym bag when it gets sweaty, and slip into a spare) under a T-shirt at least a size too big.
22
I had my own "bra girl" moment a few weeks ago! I kept thinking that I just needed to lose a little more weight then I would do it - but of course one never loses enough "little more weight," so I just did it. It was a liberating experience.
75
@Chrissy
Over here, we kick it up a notch, for all people. Yes, it's the sauna! I love it there - nice people, safe, clean, very respectful. I am now 54. It has become harder for me to go, despite how much I love it.
After alot of stress recently, I tacked on 10kg after having lost it, and I feel horrible about my body and what I have done to it. I weigh 122kg, and I weighed 80kg after boot camp. I have grown no taller, I have less musculinity, and there is no earthly reason I should not weigh the same. That's 42 kilograms of fat. Ouch.
But to be in a healthy, healthful place, to participate in what contributes to better mental and physical health, I have to get real, own it and, in a word, accept the grace society can offer. I have to go back to the sauna, which is essentially a nudist club with the heated rooms.
Being there reduces appetite, inreases resting metabolic rate, relaxes mind and body, cleans my skin and, simply, feels wonderful.
I will go again soon. It will not be easy, and it must be more than just once. You story has helped me. Thanks.
2
Personally, I'd prefer it if people didn't walk (or run) around the city without shirts on. Man, woman, fit, flabby - doesn't matter. You're not at the beach or lounging by the pool, so wear a shirt. That's just my personal preference, though. To each their own.
164
@Laura C - given the choice, in this weather, between viewing wet tee shirts or no tee shirts, I'd go for the latter.
@Laura C The point is that we are not at the beach or lounging around but we are working out and sweating and hotter than heck. So we take the shirt off.
1
I used to be Bra Girl, and a bikini girl, and a tank top wearing girl, and a 3 inch rise girl, but then:
MENOPAUSE
Now it's all stretch crepe + jersey on me.
149
I'm still a skinny distance runner post-menopause (genetically blessed, at least in the stomach area) but simply don't feel comfortable wearing only a sports bra in my late fifties. More power to those who do, but it makes me feel like mutton dressed as lamb. I'll save exposing my midriff for the beach or the occasional unbearably hot day - although even then, a tank top drenched in water can feel cooler than no tank at all.
12
@Susan Slattery Exactly! I wore bikinis until I was 53 or so and felt perfectly appropriate. Then...menopause and everything changed, almost overnight! I always remember the great Norah Ephron wishing that she had worn a bikini everyday of her life when she "could"!
10
@Susan Slattery Those were the good old days. And I enjoyed them for many years, so I've got a lot to be thankful for. Ugh, this is the Times, I better be more grammatical: I've got a lot for which to be thankful. And I'm glad to hear I'm not alone.
3
Thank you for this hilarious article. I’m a guy, but I’m tired of women being shamed for just about anything. You go!
269
@RJR
"I’m a guy, but I’m tired of women being shamed for just about anything."
I'm a guy too but where have you been: Men are shamed for everything nowadays.
6
@JKL Welcome to the club!
2
I used to jog in just the bra sometimes, and it DID feel exhilarating. Then I had a kid and now I too am mortified that anyone would see my midriff. Reading this makes me long for that freedom again. Maybe one day I will try again (with high waisted leggings of course). You know what else is really, really great that I have done a few times? Swim without a shirt on. It is SO NICE. I am just dreaming of that cool water flowing all around my upper body as I propel myself through the water right now.
6
@reader
Skinny dipping is even more so.
I have not ever heard anyone who didn't feel something.
One thought is that goes back to being in the womb?
Jen: "...oiled rawhide stretched over laser-cut obsidian."
Perfectly summarized. This is how we all feel. Even when 20 years ago I was the description above, I never did the bra-only thing. Now, I have jello and even a high top corset wouldn't help.
Know that I laughed out loud while reading the entire column.
Thank you!
E
5
I used to be a bra girl as well then I had two beautiful babies in my mid thirties and now I am definitely not a bra girl and I can't stand wearing pants - I am a cotton short lover all the way.
Also when I have gone without a shirt I don't have a mechanism for wiping the ton of sweat from doing my workouts -barre 3 is a favorite of mine btw.
7
Love this! I am a 'bra girl'; always have been. (And a "Woman who runs with dogs". I used to run (beginning at 40). I also had an entourage....my two English Setter girls. Hot weather? Bra Girl. Cold weather? Bra Girl. Yeah, there is nothing more invigorating than run in 20 degree weather with your leggings and your windbreaker around your waist and ear warmers on your ears. When you are hoofing it in the cold, you need to keep your legs and ears warm and vent, vent, vent everything else once you are in full stride.
My girls and I ran in the wee hours on the road--long before the world was awake, and on the fire break on the rail tracks behind my home with only the turkey and the deer to see us. But oh, my long-departed dogs would "shiver in anticipation" when the shoes came out.
During the day, as my girls and I wound through the 3 mile loop in my rural neighborhood, local dogs would join us. Tails wagging and tongues hanging--they merrily jogged with our informal pack. Oh, how I miss those days and my departed friends. I called it running meditation. Thank you for "jogging" that memory.
21
Good for you.
I'm gonna do it too, sort of.
Of course, I'm male, so the situation is a bit different.
I mow my front lawn where I'm visible to the neighbors in a T-shirt - and by the time I am done with the front it is generally completely soaked in sweat and ready for the laundry bin. Then I strip it off and mow the back lawn shirtless.
So you have inspired me: no more T-shirt for the front lawn! (Will cut down on laundry as well.)
24
When you said you 'mow your front lawn...' I thought you meant shaving your chest. Then I read on. That'll teach me to never read the comments before coffee!
1
I have observed that women (and men) usually dress (and decorate their bodies) to draw attention to themselves. This phenomenon cuts across cultures and centuries, nothing new or surprising here. Indeed, many so-called "primitive" societies have been indulging in piercing, tattooing, painting and other body modifications for centuries and even millennia.
Once upon a time in the U.S. it was shocking to see a woman's ankle or bare shoulder. Today we're discussing whether sports bras are titillating or merely comfy, so I suppose those who determine styles will next require total baring of female bosoms (already common in Europe, at least on some beaches). If so, many men (and boys) will be greatly gratified.
As an out-of-shape man of a certain age, I promise not to walk down the street (or even along the boardwalk) in my speedo, if my female counterparts will pledge not to parade their avoirdupois in sports bras. Deal?
7
No, it's not "titillating"; it's not about us. And women have gone bare-chested in various societies since clothes were invented. Dress how you like, and expect others to do the same. With love from the 21st century x
4
Trade the speedo in for the hammock. Go full Spaniard or go home. Own it.
@Mon Ray
You're comparing apples and oranges or nuts and bolts...
2
I am very thin (5'8' 120 lbs). I run in a sports bra and shorts if the weather is suitable as this is most comfortable for me. T-shirts tend to get soaking wet as I sweat like a farm animal on most of my runs if the ambient temperature is above 50F. If I wouldn't get arrested for indecent exposure, I would run in shorts without the bra (women can't do this) as I love the feel of air on my bare skin. I also love the feel of rain as I run too as this hides the sweat. This is a great essay; full of fun to read.
22
I adopted the sports bra during a year in Brazil. All the women runners wore them “coopering” — the name named after Dr. Kenneth Cooper. It was natural and a wonderful choice. I never looked back!
1
I have been a runner for 30 years. I’ve run thousands of miles, and 21 marathons. Just this summer I started running in just a bra.. and it is exactly as you say. I feel strong, powerful, and confident. I don’t even put a shirt on when I stop at the convenience store on my way home from running (I think this makes them uncomfortable but I don’t care). From now to forever if it’s hot, humid, or I just feel like it, I am bra woman.
23
For workouts I'm a no-bra girl, just a cami, but under bicycling jerseys a minimal sportbra. I'm shameless myself, just don't want to offend onlookers.
6
I didn't know that about Malcolm Gladwell.
20
I had almost the exact same experience! Going with the sports bra only in yoga allowed me to feel and see more about where my body was actually going versus where I thought it was going. The confidence boost I got was amazing - just owning my body more, by the small act of wearing what I wanted, when I wanted, with very little care to what those around me thought. Bra Girls forever!
44
I'd honestly never thought about this until I started doing weekly trail races and noticed I was the only woman in a sports bra all the time. Even in 90 degree weather. I get naturally overheated easily, so it isn't a choice if I want to be comfortable while exercising. I applaud anyone out there moving around and getting fit -why should I care what they are wearing?
28
I did the YWCA women’s sprint triathlon a few years ago. I was a bit freaked as a tri-suit (I.e. spandex onesie) leaves nothing to the imagination.
But watching thousands of women of all ages and body shapes compete alongside me made me forget to be self-conscious. We were all powerful women with bodies we had trained to do more than we thought possible. It wasn’t what our bodies looked like, it was what they could do that mattered. I heave never felt so free.
Rock on my fellow beautiful bra girls!!
47
I fully support the author in her position. If the concern is men, it’s not your belly we’re looking at, anyway. Go Bra Girls!
23
So what are YOU looking at, disgusting man: their tits or their ass!
1
@Miriam Chua
Why … both! And don't forget their legs.
Very funny, very human. Every woman can be a bra girl, but...there is nothing wrong with great looking t-shirts, especially if you are making a statement like wearing a "Punisher" or "Venom" t-shirt.
13
@Ralph The other day I saw a woman running in a loose tank top that said "I woke up like this." Hilarious!
1
I read this, expecting to be rolling my eyes by the second sentence. Instead I laughed all the way through - bravo, well written.
65
Why any clothing at all?
Is it about exercising or making a statement?
The clothing industry makes billions reminding us that decency is common courtesy.
12
Your bodice; your choice !
Go Girl !
79
I like a t-shirt for any aerobic exercise because it wicks away the sweat. Comfort and function, not self-consciousness about body image...
18
Funny, sweet, inspiring! Laughed out loud. Thanks for the healthy dose of attitude!
74
This is awesome. I’ve recently become a Bra Girl, as well. When in hot yoga, make sure to do one very important thing. Keep your eyes in your own mat.
10
@Gucci Marmont I choose a spot in the room where I can't see the mirror!
So it has come to this. Is there no end to neo-feminist self-indulgent trivia? And no end to the degree that it is inflated to some kind of false importance for a world-wide audience in the supposed most influential newspaper in the world? I don't usually take issue with puff pieces - the Times needs a broad audience - and I appreciate the humor and irony of the piece, but this is about *one* person with *one* peculiarity that *no one* should care about. And it's just another of a long series.
Bra, no bra, shirt, gum boots, funny hat, chain mail. It's not important. It's not interesting. It's not socially significant. It isn't anything.
38
@Stevenz: I disagree. It's comic relief. After spending a couple of hours reading about what's going on in the world, and especially in this country, the United States of America, it's very welcome indeed.
99
When you take power, Stevenz, I've got a feeling it will go hard with the bourgeoisie.
4
@Stevenz I couldn't disagree more :-)
1
NICE ESSAY!
...and its not just women who are slaves to ridiculous fashion fetishes. I (as well as many other men) work out for an hour on the elliptical or treadmill or when we go for a run. An hour is twice as long as it takes a world class athlete to run 10,000 meters. However, none of those athletes wear "shorts" that go down below their knees. Yet, men in a typical gym feel compelled to wear uncomfortable outfits when working out. I decided to start wearing true running shorts at the gym...and you know what? No one cares.
19
Guy speaking here. Not SUSAN but her husband. Whose name is. . .is. . . .
. ..but no! Shame--diffidence are withholding my name.
'Cause we guys, Ms. Spyra--we know what it's like. Now listen! I don't wish to be unfair. I know--we all know--how we have PLAGUED and TORMENTED you ladies with unreachable standards of physical perfection.
This is coming from the heart. I think it not only impossible--I think it UNDESIRABLE that any woman achieve those miracles of exiguity flung at us from TV screens, movie screens, and magazine covers.
I regret this. I am truly sorry.
Well--to resume:
Around forty years ago (I was in my twenties), I was--well--REASONABLY slim.
I recall one summer vacation in New Hampshire. Had to walk up to the washroom to shave. And I did this--oh youth youth! how it vanishes, melts away before your eyes--
--I did this NOT ONLY wearing shorts--
--but SHIRTLESS.
My ribs were showing. People commented on this. They thought I looked malnourished.
That was forty years ago.
And the years went by. Those ribs were swamped--immersed in a swelling sea of adipose tissue. I suppose (like Jacques Cousteau) I could go DIVING for them. If so inclined. But--
--I am not so inclined.
Blessings on you, Ms. Spyra, for your openness, your willingness to share.
Bras? Well that, of course, leaves me out!
But SHIRTLESS?
Never again, Ms. Spyra! Never again!
Sigh.
59
Alas, being a bra girl or bra whatever sounds so swell, but one really doesn't want to get sun exposure and a wrinkly decolletage. We see all those bra girls, and their counterparts, shirtless grown men running in the midday sun like mad dogs, and roll our eyes. Soon enough, they get spotty.
11
'Nother guy here - that was funny, thank you. And you and your sisters should do Bra Girl any time you want, and feel very cool about it. No more than fair when you see so many guys exercising without shirts, many of whom are, shall we say, decidedly portly.
121
Even though I will never be a bra girl because I simply too old to be considered a girl, I fully support any declaration or call to arms that puts body shaming in its place. Well done.
41
Go girl go! You had me in stitches— so grateful for that!
Me, Im too timid..I want the attitude but I still need the shirt...
15
Brandi Chastain and Serena Williams, and that woman tennis player who was just fined for fixing her shirt during a break at the US Open, all say, "You rock, Bra Girl!"
Let the air of the gym breeze over the sensitive skin of your middle, my sisters!
62
I wish I had the patience to explain why this article disgusts me.
16
To OCM:
I wish you had the patience to accept another’s acceptance of her own body.
It’s great that a woman had such a moment. I would love to be able to do that.
8
@OCM
I wish I had the patience not to be irritated by your cryptic comment.
3
@OCM
I wish you had the intelligence to understand the issues in this article.
2
This is wonderful! Walking into a mosque.... hahahah! And I can envision the beautiful yoga teacher. "No." I'm sure Maya A and Eleanor R love being invoked in the context of wide goddesses and high-waisted leggings, which, imho, are the bomb and should never have left us in the first place. Thank you!
14
If this piece is about body acceptance and feeling comfortable in your own skin, why are you suggesting that women wear high-waisted leggings to conceal and self-shame their belly (fat) ?
25
@Don I think it's because she's being honest about her lack of full acceptance, and a lot of women commenters seem to share the feeling.
30
Oh, Don.
2
Because, humor?
1
Brilliantly funny.
But I have to whine, and compare oppressions, or I they will remove my guy privilege:
I was once, briefly, a hairy-back boy. I could feel the air on my back, sort of, under my exposed fur. Shirt had come off.
Other men with Russian ancestry were calmly walking the Boardwalk in Brighton Beach, big tufts of back-hair exposed for all to see, and I got caught up in the moment.
Then I saw a picture someone took of me on their phone screen.
Even a disposable razor duct-taped to a Chinese bamboo backscratcher wasn't be enough to conquer the offending pelt; T-shirts are now required at all times.
But I'm glad you had the EXPERIENCE of an exposed middle.
39
@Michael c Wax, dear. Wax.
Society has all kinds of rules about what body parts should be hairy vs. not. You probably shave your face. You might even shave your head (once unthinkable, now the universal solution to baldness: thanks, Michael Jordan). We women shave all kinds of skin. (Some choose not to, and that's fine for them, but not moi...) No shame in having hair removed by whatever means works, if you like the result.
Try starting the summer with a back wax and a man's pedicure. Maybe you take to it; maybe you don't. It's all good.
11
What about a shirtless dude on the treadmill? Is that appropriate? It's been so hot and humid and my shirt gets drenched.
14
@Peter
Hey, Peter, if she can do it, we can too. Forget the shirt! Be comfortable, be natural!
@Peter F Nope. It's not you, just no one wants to see that. I see men running all the time, shirtless, sweat dripping down, thinking we're admiring their pecks. Don't add to their ranks.
1
@Peter F Grosss.......you drip on the treadmill......get a dry T shirt.....Bring two to the gym.
1
Absolutely hilarious. Can't for the life of me figure out why all the yoga/gym ladies aren't doing it. However, the ending was a bit of a come-down. Only women who take their shirts off should be honored with the term "Bra Girl".
5
I have never understood this compulsion to exercise in groups, and sometimes pay money to do so. Geez, just go exercise folks, it's free and you can wear whatever you want.
Great article though!
43
@OLYPHD, I am with you. Back when everyone did manual chores around the house, including gardening, fall raking, snow shoveling, seasonal activities all year round. Now I see my younger neighbors/couples, who refuse to weed their yards, trim their trees, mow their lawns..they would rather outsource it to a landscaper. They have cleaning ladies clean their houses cuz you know house cleaning is a waste of time when you could be in the gym with fellow groupies, exercising. How does it make economic sense? You pay landscapers and cleaning ladies to do your jobs and you buy gym membership on top of it, to get some exercise. Backward logic.
1
Wear what you like. Stop worrying about what others will say. Guys have been doing this forever. Well, within limits. But you will never be truly liberated until you dress comfortably and stop imagining other’s reactions...one suggestion: throw away those silly high heels and start wearing comfortable shoes...your feet will thank you, and men will not notice..well, those that do don’t matter.
31
Yes! I recently did a triathlon as a Bra Girl. Did I look ripped and toned in my tri shorts and bra? No. Did I give a hoot once the race started? Also no. And, nobody else cared what I was wearing, either. It was lovely.
71
I figure it this way: if sports bras were meant to be worn under clothes, they wouldn't be made with so many loud patterns and bright colors.
Kind of like ... bikini tops.
And yes, it's nice to read something like this with all the news-misery lately.
75
@Valerie
but a lot bigger than bikini tops!
4
Me? I'd rather keep the shirt and ditch the bra. As time and gravity overtake us, we jiggle more and at a lower level. I'm hoping for the day we women don't suffer from breast-control discrimination and be forced to continue wearing bras. (Could I become a protected class and get job preferences, please?)
I have a 90-year old family member who now weighs under 95 pounds, has Parkinson's, and STILL puts a bra on every day, despite the difficulty of getting it on. Why? Because she always has. Feels immodest and unlovely without her bra. Time to end the tyranny of the bra.
89
@farhorizons, my almost 91 year old mom, went bra less a decade ago, she still has a few in her closet but doesn't want to wear them anymore, they itch and feel restrictive.
2
@farhorizons
"suffer from breast-control discrimination".
Preach!!
2
Love it! When I was in my 40's I used to run (well, jog really) in my running bra and spandex shorts. There is nothing like the feeling of the breeze on your midriff. Thanks for the reminder, Jen.
7
This is so funny because I just started leaving off the tank I'd wear over my sports bra. Out there and proud!
14
Not a big deal. Where I work out we all either workout in a bra with a small top which turns into a sports bra or in a thick, un-revealing sports bra. Both look pretty well identical. and both reveal a few inches of midriff - certainly way less daring than all the guys walking around shirtless.
6
And the sad truth is that you noticed it way more than almost everyone else. It can be so difficult to shed the self-conscious hang-ups we are born and raised with! Yes, some of the hang-up may be well founded but so many are just as well tossed in the trash!
4
Hey Jen-
Moved from NY to FL three years ago. Had a hard time shedding layers and seeing so much flesh.
However...time changes attitudes.
So hot down here sometimes that I started taking my morning walks (in half darkness), half dressed (at least in my 70-year old mind) in a sports bra.
Fast forward 2 years--I'm now wearing "cheeky" bikini bottoms.
Hah!
51
@Mary E Love this!
2
*oiled rawhide stretched over laser-cut obsidian*
Just snorted coffee through my nose.
139
Great read! 2018, the year we burn shirts.
7
The world will simply be a better place when women have the same freedoms as do men. (especially regarding clothing)
Then when women exert their freedoms, men (or other women) must not sexualize them at every turn.
35
@FunkyIrishman: I believe Ms. Spyra is talking about exercise classes with ALL WOMEN...and her shame is about looking fat or unfit vs. OTHER WOMEN.
This is far less about men, than it is about woman vs. woman and fat shaming amongst OTHER WOMEN.
You had me at the baddest lion on the Serengeti. I was yours forever at Natalie Portman and Malcolm Gladwell. It's funny because it's true! Thanks for the giggles and the empowerment.
32
I am saddened by the thought that you "have never again entered the kingdom of the Bra Girls."
Both my wife and daughter go to the gym as Bra Girls. We are surprised how few other folks dare to bare a midriff.
24
Hilarious. Thanks for the good laugh which I badly needed after too much “Kavanaugh Hearing Binging”.
20
@Jeanne, I use all the time binging on TV, exercising all kinds of body parts in my own home (think fidget). Dressed any which way I want. No need to go to the gym.
1
I’d be happy to wear a sport bra under a shirt. Unfortunately it seems that sport bras are only made for people who don’t really need them.
54
@Carole: I have noticed that as well!
5
@Carole
There are sports bras for women who need all the support they can get, but they are only made by a few companies. Do a search "sports bras large cup sizes." You should find one.
1
Absolutely brilliant article. Definitely well-needed with all the shenanigans in the news lately. Thank you!
44
I am a Yoga-man and absolutely loved it! Ata-girl!
26
So brave. Thank you for sharing your story of courage.
29
Sister: sing it loud. Thank you for the piece.
98
:-) Loved it! And I used to read the Onion all of the time back in the day. You go Jen!
32