By Emma Ruhlman, Business Insider / ReutersA few weeks ago, we asked our readers how they felt about certain types of bras and panties, and some of you were offended by the suggestion that these types of lingerie were not acceptable.
We were surprised to see that a lot of our readers were also shocked by the way they reacted to these comments, which were usually made with humour and sarcasm.
One reader said that she felt shame about her choice of bra and she was offended by anyone who questioned it.
She said, “I have a bra on, and my husband has a bra, and we both wear it.
I’ve always been comfortable wearing it.
But we have two daughters and the two of us wear them together.
The bra is my choice, and I respect them.
If they say it is inappropriate, it is.”
Another reader said, “[Bras and panties] are so girly, I feel guilty about wearing them.
And I feel like I’m not even trying.”
A reader said she had recently found out that she had been wearing the wrong bra, which she had bought online, when she went to buy her first bra online.
She said, “(I’m) not sure what else to do with my money, so I’ll just buy a bra online and wait for the wrong one to come back.”
Another user wrote that she was “trying to find the perfect bra” because she was tired of wearing the same bra every day and was tired that it would be hard to find a bra that fit her body.
But another reader said the worst thing that happened was when her friends told her they would be buying her a bra because they were tired of being called a slut.
One of our own readers said that the worst part of being a woman in the modern world is that “everybody” thinks women should dress like that.
One more reader said of all the people who would be offended by her comments: “You’re so sensitive, it’s like you’re talking to a virus.”
What is ‘sluttiness’?
A lot of the comments we received came from women who have been sexually harassed, assaulted or abused by their partners.
Many women who had been sexually assaulted, abused or harassed felt that their complaints had been dismissed, and they felt ashamed about their experiences.
Many women who were sexually harassed felt the need to distance themselves from their partners, and often their friends and family members, because they had come to terms with their sexual assault.
Some women who are sexually harassed and have been assaulted feel that they were “slut shamed” and that their experience of sexual assault had been “normalised”.
Many women were also hurt by the negative messages about sexual assault that came from the public, including the internet.
One woman wrote that the “mainstream media has been trying to blame women for their assaults, when the mainstream media is in fact trying to protect the perpetrators”.
She said: “My friend and I are so disgusted by the public messages that have been circulated on the internet about how we should feel ashamed for what happened to us.
I’m so disgusted that there are people who can’t be bothered to do the work that I’ve done for years to help women, and then think I’m a slut when I go topless for a business meeting.”
One reader wrote that women should be “very careful” and “take time to make sure that no one can say that they are a slut to you, or you’re slut shamed”.
Others felt that they had been given “no choice” but to dress in revealing clothing, as a way of “keeping their own bodies and sexuality safe”.
We were also concerned by the fact that many of our women felt that there were a number of women who “would never wear anything like a bra”.
Many of our reader readers had had experience of what is known as “stereotyping”, or the idea that certain women are not “good enough” for certain types or types of clothing.
A reader wrote: “I used to be afraid of wearing dresses because of the stigma attached to them.
I was really scared that I was going to be labeled as a slut for wearing a dress.
Now, I’ve been wearing a skirt for a while, and everyone seems to be OK with it.”
But we also received some feedback that many women were afraid to wear a bra and that women felt unsafe if they were not wearing them because they “might get called a ‘slag’.”
The best advice I can give is to be mindful of your own safety, and never let anyone call you a slut if you aren’t wearing a bra.
“The problem isn’t the women wearing bras, the problem is people who make assumptions about you.
It’s about people who are not looking at you and assume that you’re going to wear bras.
And when you say ‘no’ to them, they feel justified in assuming that you
