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Male bra – also known as a compression bra, compression vest, or gynecomastia vest – refers to
bra
A bra, short for brassiere or brassière (, or ; ), is a form-fitting undergarment that is primarily used to support and cover breasts. It can serve a range of other practical and aesthetic purposes, including enhancing or reducing the appear ...
ssieres that are worn by men. Men sometimes
develop breasts[Cox, Therese Smith. (August 1, 2000) Charleston Daily Mail ''Men who develop breasts more numerous than people realize.'' Section: News; Page 1D.] and the estimates of those with the condition are presented as a range "because the definition of
gynecomastia
Gynecomastia (also spelled gynaecomastia) is the abnormal non-cancerous enlargement of one or both breasts in males due to the growth of breast tissue as a result of a hormone imbalance between estrogens and androgens. Updated by Brent Wisse (1 ...
varies and the method of surveying varies."
Although there are options for treating gynecomastia,
some elect surgery to reduce their breasts or wear a male bra.
Male bras typically flatten rather than lift.
Men who choose to wear a brassiere may broadly be divided into two categories, depending on whether the brassiere is worn primarily for utilitarian purposes, or as a part of cross-dressing. Some men who have large breasts as a result of
obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
or gynecomastia may choose to wear a brassiere to provide support for their
breast
The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues.
In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secret ...
s and to flatten their appearance. Other men wear bras for
cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself.
Cross-dressing has play ...
, for sexual purposes such as
transvestic fetishism
Transvestic fetishism is a psychiatric diagnosis applied to men who are thought to have an excessive sexual or erotic interest in cross-dressing; this interest is often expressed in autoerotic behavior. It differs from cross-dressing for entert ...
or
feminization
Feminization most commonly refers to:
* Feminization (biology), the hormonally induced development of female sexual characteristics
* Feminization (activity), a sexual or lifestyle practice where a person assumes a female role
* Feminization (soci ...
, or as a form of
submission
Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...
to their partner.
Petticoat discipline
Petticoating or pinaforing is a type of forced feminization that involves dressing a man or boy in girls' clothing as a form of humiliation or punishment, or as a fetish. While the practice has come to be a rare, socially unacceptable form of ...
may also involve male bra wear. Additionally, some male athletes – more specifically runners – may choose to wear a sports bra under their shirts in order to prevent a common medical condition called
jogger's nipple
Fissure of the nipple, colloquially referred to as "jogger's nipple", is a condition that is the result of chafing of one or both nipples. This can occur in both men and women during physical exercise such as long-distance running where there is ...
, also known as nipple chafing. This condition is caused by excessive rubbing of wet sweat-soaked material over one's nipples. The condition, often very painful, can be prevented by wearing a sports bra.
Although some bras for men have been developed, they often differ only superficially from their female counterparts.
There is sometimes no medical necessity for men to wear bras, and the same considerations for and against apply regardless of gender.
Female Intelligence Agency: Men and bras
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In sport, a male bra is often used by sporting clubs to evaluate players with real-time statistics. It contains a tracking device (similar to a woman's sports bra with a heart rate monitor) that detects heart rate, distance traveled, fatigue, and other statistics that a coach can use to evaluate a player.
In popular culture
*An episode of the TV sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
''Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
'', titled " The Doorman", has the character Kramer invent a male bra for Frank Costanza
This is a list of characters who appeared on ''Seinfeld''. This list features only characters who appeared in multiple episodes; those that appeared in only one are not included here.
Primary characters Jerry Seinfeld
George Costanza
Elaine ...
, who has large breasts. They disagree on the name, with Kramer wanting to call it a "bro" and Frank preferring "manssiere", a play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
on the term "brassiere".
*An episode of the American animated television sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
''Napoleon Dynamite
''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt and Sean Covel, written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and directed by Jared Hess. The film stars Jon Heder in the role of the titular character, a nerdy high- ...
'' titled "FFA", featured Napoleon revealing that he is wearing a "men's action bra" in a cutaway in which he competes in a "speed milking" contest.
See also
* Breast fetishism
As a paraphilia, breast fetishism (also known as mastofact, breast partialism, or mazophilia) is a highly atypical sexual interest consisting of an exclusive focus on female breasts, which is a type of partialism. The term ''breast fetishism'' i ...
* Breast binding
Breast binding, also known as chest binding, is the flattening of breasts with constrictive materials such as cloth strips, purpose-built undergarments, often using spandex or other synthetic fiber, and shirts layered from tight to loose. Binder ...
* Breast reduction
Reduction mammoplasty (also breast reduction and reduction mammaplasty) is the plastic surgery procedure for reducing the size of large breasts. In a breast reduction surgery for re-establishing a functional bust that is proportionate to the woma ...
* Growth hormone treatment for bodybuilding
Growth hormone therapy refers to the use of growth hormone (GH) as a prescription medication—it is one form of hormone therapy. Growth hormone is a peptide hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that stimulates growth and cell reproduction. I ...
* Klinefelter syndrome
Klinefelter syndrome (KS), also known as 47,XXY, is an aneuploid genetic condition where a male has an additional copy of the X chromosome. The primary features are infertility and small, poorly functioning testicles. Usually, symptoms are su ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Male Bra
Brassieres
Undergarments