Let me preface this by saying I am a man, and smoked a little too much, so I’m sitting here thinking… what is or was the original purpose of a bra? Weight support? Vanity? Covering the nips so people’s eyes met your eyes and you can have a normal conversation? Like what’s it all about?
Yes yes that’s exactly it. You see nipples are sensitive and boobs tend to jiggle and sway around when one moves, it can get very uncomfortable. So a bra reduces friction and accidental brushing against objects and clothing, helps support the weight and yes also helps shape the bosom. All that.
The original purpose of the bra was to let women move freely without fearing their breasts might pop out of their dresses iirc. But I think women used to wrap their chests with a tight cloth if they had to heavy physical work before bras as we know them today. Take this with a grain of salt, I didn’t fact check any.
Similar to why many men wear boxer briefs it sounds like
Right, like if you just rephrase OP’s question as what’s the point of a sports bra, it becomes more obvious. Everyone knows what a sports bra is for, right? Well with significant enough breasts, virtually all movement benefits from some support.
The weird thing to me is how women with very small breasts can still sometimes adhere to a strict bra regime. Some of it is cultural programming, including the terror that your nipples might show through a shirt. This IMO is not worth the cost and maintenance and restriction of a bra.
When people poop on Muslims for covering their women or wonder how some women could ever want to wear a veil, I like to remind them that we do exactly the same thing in the West. It’s just that our bar is set at a different level. No we don’t lose our shit if women show their faces but we still lose our shit if their nipples show.
Yes you have a point with that but it really does help reduce friction and sensitivity in the area. I think I’d still wear one if I was more on the flat chested end just because of that reason. Everyone is different