Do we think the 32AA woman has it any easier?

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?

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