Booby Trap
credit: caitlinader
There’s a piece up on FailedMessiah about a kiruv organization giving a model a breast reduction in their photos. It’s so terrific because it exemplifies something I’ve long known but never really seen articulated: large breasts are considered immodest in the religious community. It’s bizarre. On one hand, a woman’s primary role in that world is basically biological- having children- but at the same time, too prominent proof of her female biology is considered shameful.
When I was a teen, I was introduced to the standard “minimizer” bra, sold out of Borough Park basements, and, apparently, de rigueur for any generously endowed religious female. This bra was not your typical Wacoal-style “reduce an inch” garment. It was a Victorian-inspired chest death trap of steel that bound one’s chest so tightly, it could make Pamela Anderson resemble a boy of nine. I have never seen anything like it at Macy’s, but all of my large-breasted religious friends adored this bra.
Surrounded by unspoken messages of shame, with thin, child-like bodies celebrated as the standard of beauty, I thought large breasts were an unfortunate embarrassment. A gross, animalistic bounty. I was shocked, when I entered the secular world, to discover that large breasts were generally considered an asset.
That pervasive shame rears its head in extraordinary ways….
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really frum women don’t wear seatbelts
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Her chest wasn’t even that big, probably a C-cup at the most. However, the entire Photoshop job was pathetic. There are a lot of frum graphic designers, could they really not have found someone better?
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i allways tell my wife should make it look as big as possible but shes to frum and doesnt like when i say it
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Zev , You pulled me out of my fantasyland where things like that only happen in books like Sotah or Hush. Coming from a chabad back round it is hard for me to imagine these scenes in real life.
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Reminding me of:
I was once in the powder room with my wife, and the shikseh of the family (every family has one) complimented my wife on her dress, and at the same time pulled her bra up explaining, “let them show”… to which my wife replied.. ich shaim mich
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