Junior Figure Control

"Breast Buds and the Training Bra"

Joan Jacobs Brumberg's, "Breast Buds and the Training Bra" explains the development of bras and their importance to teenage girls. In the early 1900's bras has little significance to everyday life, but as years went on bras became more and more popular. Every teenage girl wanted to posses one, even if their parents wouldn't allow them to own one. There were girls who couldn't afford them, and there were girls that had no use for them because they hadn't gone through puberty yet, but that didn't stop them. If infatuation with breasts increased as we got to the 1950's; every girl was journaling about their breasts and everyone else's too. That's another example of time change because now bras aren't something new, so young girls tend not to journal about things like that anymore. "Those who had ample bosoms seemed to travel through the hallways in a veritable state of grace." They're almost saying that girls that had larger chests thought they were better than the other girls who didn't. I believe today that stands true; girls with larger breasts seem to flaunt them more and want to show them off, but that's just my opinion. It also says, "Busty girls mad desirable friends because they seemed sophisticated, and they attracted boys." It may seem that way to other girls, but this statement is definitely not true. Today girls with larger breasts actually come off less sophisticated then other women, and less intelligent. I feel like some girls act differently then they usually would because of that reason. People who influenced these behaviors were doctors, mothers, and advertisers; they believed that only the development of breasts was needed for success. What about development of their brains? Does anything like that even matter to them? For the mothers and doctors it should, but I could understand why the advertisers don't care because they are just trying to sell their product and make money. What were they trying to teach these young girls? I don't understand it. In the end of the reading it says, "When we dress little girls in brassieres or bikinis, we imply adult behaviors and, unwittingly, we mark them as sexual objects." I agree with this statement 100%. I don't believe girls at the age of 11 or 12 should be worrying about things such as bras. They should be focused on their schoolwork and other activities that lead to good work ethics, and personality development. I feel like this topic of puberty and development should come up as it happens, if it's not happening yet, then the girls shouldn't be worrying about it. If the only thing young girls are worrying about is when their breasts are going to grow in, or why they aren't big like other girls, then we have a huge problem. The idea of "Junior Figure Control", can only lead to one thing, self-consciousness. If a social norm is created about breast size, then were in for a long list of insecurities a young girl could have.