Now our society has made a big case for itself, that a woman is only considered attractive if she is more developed in the chest region. Because of this, the bra industry targets underdeveloped women with colorful and lacy push up bras to compensate for what they are “lacking.” So in order to find a smaller size bra, women can almost never find one that is not a push up. That right there is telling a 14-year-old girl that in order to be beautiful you need to have a certain size chest, and yours alone will not suit society. Therefore, here's some extra padding to help with your “problem.”

On the other end of things, when women find themselves to “fit” societies impression of an attractive size, the bra industry seems to encourage these girls to want to be smaller. The bra options for bustier girls are not pretty or colorful; they are plain white or plain black with enough fabric to make a small quilt.

When asked about this, Plymouth State senior Kelsey Davis states, “Having a big chest, especially when you are young, is more of a curse than a blessing. You feel like you are less of a person because you cannot find bras that fit and the ones that do exist are ugly, making you feel worse about yourself.” Not only are they unflattering but they also do not make enough sizes, because they are more focused on targeting smaller sized girls and encouraging them to want to look bigger. Also, being considered a big-chested girl puts you in the plus sized category. Because there is no in-between; you are either small or plus size when it comes to bra fashion. Both labels are extremely manipulating to young women, and when there is no happy medium, it makes it impossible for girls to find beauty in themselves. The problem is, there should not be any categories in the first place, there should not be a plus size or small size, because there should be no judgments on someone else's body. When asked about this, Plymouth State junior Andrea Wasgatt said, “It’'s ridiculous that bra designers feel that they must be celebrated for making “plus size” bras, because no matter what size someone is, their body is their body. Designers should want to make sizes that fit everyone just for the sake of the brand and not for popularity.” There is so many restrictions on how women see each other and for designers to give themselves a pat on the back for making bigger sizes is just an indicator of how the bra industry is influencing body shaming. No matter what size a woman is, they will always feel like they are never good enough.

Not only is finding size and style a problem, it's also the pricing of bras. The average nice quality bra costs almost fifty dollars. Sure, there are cheaper ones but they will break or become ratty within a course of a week. The bigger size a girl is the harder it is to find a cheap bra that works. Women are expected to pay this much for their bodies that the did not get choice in. Kelsey Davis was also asked her thoughts on this and she said, “It was not unheard of for me to spend a hundred dollars on a single bra simply because it was the only one that fit.” A bra serves no higher purpose than support, so why is it so expensive to purchase them? Especially when they are a key necessity to a woman's everyday life.

Women are subjected to body shaming, lack of confidence and doubt in themselves the moment they put on their first bra. It does not matter what category a girl falls into; each label corrupts the way us women view ourselves. The bra industry keeps doing what they are doing because it makes them money. They are not thinking about the countless girls they are emotionally hurting in the process. There should be no labels, no restrictions and no inequality when it comes to bra shopping, but yet, here we are.