In fact, breasts recently burst back into the pop cultural zeitgeist, representing something much more significant than femininity. From fashion catwalks to Tik Tok feeds, breasts are a symbolic and literal stand in for our culture’s conflicted obsession with women’s bodies, power and self determination. This revival of attention to the bosom represents a real departure in clothing. It encourages us to reconsider more profound societal concerns, like the rights of women and changing ideas about what it means to be feminine.
Miuccia Prada, the creative visionary behind Miu Miu, used bullet bras as the focal point for her last runway show. She called the chapbook an examination of “femininities.” She continued to stress that clothing has the power to communicate all sorts of identities and stories. The bullet bra is back in fashion, baby!
Mixed Media
This retro-looking design opens up a great discussion starter around what femininity should be in today’s world.
Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner help shape this narrative with their platforms and choices. Kardashian recently modeled the SKIMS Ultimate Nipple Bra, while Jenner openly shared details of her breast surgery on social media, including implant size and placement. These acts make clear how the space between personal choice and public opinion regarding women’s bodies is often navigated.
The cultural importance of breasts certainly isn’t a novel concept. Famous actors such as Jayne Mansfield were already flaunting their authority in movies as early as 1957. Tudor gentlewomen were proud of the small, pert breasts, proof of their prosperity that they allowed to show off fertility into easy, rich ladies’ breasts. “Breasts say everything about who a woman is: about femininity and fertility, class and age,” noted Jacqueline Sanchez Taylor, who has researched the sociology of cosmetic surgery.
In her 2010 study, Sanchez Taylor found that many young women pursued breast augmentation for status rather than personal satisfaction. Likewise, Sarah Thornton’s experience post-double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery illustrates how societal expectations can influence personal choices. Thornton suddenly found herself blessed with the breasts she never wanted, highlighting the communal pressure of women and their relationships to their bodies.
The fashion industry hasn’t just been complicit, it has played a profound part in controlling the narrative surrounding breasts. Madonna’s famous baby-pink, satin corset with its showgirl–style, conical cups created a radical break in our breast-centric fashion chronology. To the same effect, Lauren Sánchez turned heads at a recent event with her impressive cleavage spilling out from under sheer lace. Such moments underscore the political nature of women’s fashion. The length of skirts and breast sizes often reflect broader socio-political trends concerning women’s rights.
History suggests that when bigger breasts are in style, it tends to be a time of overall societal backsliding for women. “Decades when big breasts are in fashion seem to coincide with times of regression for women,” observed experts in gender studies. To feminists and activists everywhere, this correlation begs the question of how societal attitudes toward women’s bodies shift with advances in women’s rights and freedoms.
As young generations come of age against a backdrop of smoothed-out, shapewear’d, or otherwise flaunted glossy-smoothed ideals, they become intolerant to shots of anything less than perfection. The social media pressure to fit these norms can be harmful enough to influence serious acts like changing a body through surgery. “A lot of young women told me they were doing it for status,” Sanchez Taylor explained, revealing the motivations behind many cosmetic surgery decisions today.
In recent years, the #MeToo movement has pushed back against dangerous perceptions of women’s bodies in public space. Sarah Shotton remembers how campaigns advertising sexy looking bras would get attacked in return on this marketing period. “There was a time when it felt like that wasn’t OK,” she noted about the shifting tides in fashion. However, in addition to encouraging women to embrace “power dressing,” Shotton articulated a desire to take back sensuality in fashion.
Fashion designer Miuccia Prada encapsulated this sentiment in her remarks during the Miu Miu show: “What do we need, in this difficult moment for women – to lift us up?” She expressed optimism for the future of femininity in fashion, stating, “It’s like a new fashion. I think the girls are excited.”
Artist and filmmaker Liz Goldwyn added an even more subversive layer to the conversation. She famously stated that a well fitted seamed bullet bra is good for the body, good for the soul. “A perfectly seamed bullet bra lifts my spirits (and my breasts) if I am in a foul mood,” she remarked. Goldwyn hopes that such pieces can be reclaimed as symbols of resistance and defiance: “I hope we can reclaim it as symbolic of resistance, defiance and armour.”
The comeback of nourishing breasts culture is a very good sign for our times. Breasts are a compelling source of rich conversations surrounding the meanings of femininity, power and control, and societal expectations. They are a barometer for gauging where women stand in society today.