
Do we think the 32AA woman has it any easier?
by Erica Windle, copyright November 2011. All rights reserved.
A gust of chilly fall air whipped through my lingerie store as the familiar sound of the doorbell announced the arrival of a customer. Smoothing her hair quickly, a tall and curvy brunette around thirty walked briskly toward me with a slender woman in her late fifties close behind. Before I could introduce myself, the curvy brunette proclaimed, “I have big boobs, and I need to be fitted into the right size.”
“Perfect!” I answered cheerfully. One of the many lessons I have learned since opening my business four months ago is that a proper fitting session at the start alleviates the guesswork of pulling bra after bra from the rack in search of a good fit.
As I escorted her into the fitting room, the brunette casually passed off her bag to the woman I soon learned was her mother. ”Were you interested in being fitted too?” I asked.
“Her?” the brunette scoffed. ”She doesn’t have any boobs! What does she need a bra for?”
Regretfully, this wasn’t the first or last time I’ve heard such questioning if not outright disdain toward the mere mention of fitting a small-busted woman. At some point, the reigning opinion became that only bigger-busted women deserve a properly fitting bra. The rest, it seems, can make do without. But from where does this belief—this marginalization and assignment of significance to cup size—originate?
Continue reading »