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Date publication
décembre 2013
Résumé
Is the bra a light-hearted subject? Not as much as some might think. Its official function as an aesthetic orthopaedic accessory hides many different facets and issues. This feminine article is an identity marker, and also has health, economic, social and political aspects. Even moralists and philosophers regularly get involved in heated discussions about its legitimacy, necessity, uselessness or harmlessness. Is the bra a biological necessity or a social construction? A simple artefact and an attention seeker? A modesty protector, a symbol of oppression, a useful instrument or one that damages breast health? Since it is by no means a recent invention, these debates have been going on for a long time. Even if it does not really preoccupy the healthcare profession, this apparently banal female article underpins questions related to the breast itself - its definition, functions, symbolism, ambiguity... In the post-breast cancer context, it renews questions about its validity, qualities and aims. In a world in which the breast is seen as a part of the female body threatened by disease or decrepitude, the bra becomes a multipurpose item seen as necessary as much for the health, beauty and well-being of the breast as for the protection of women.
Référence
Psycho-oncologie. 2013 Dec;7(4):258-66.
