Young Teen College Girl Without Brassiere

• Bras and youth
Firm, upright breasts are typical of youth. As such, they do not need the support of a bra. A pencil test, developed by Ann Landers, has sometimes been promoted as a criterion to determine whether a girl should begin wearing a bra: a pencil is placed under the breast, and if it stays in place by itself, then wearing a bra is recommended; if it falls to the ground, it is not.
Young pubescent girls may have ambivalent feelings around the experience of buying and wearing their first bra. When a girl receives her first bra, it may be seen as a long-awaited rite of passage in her life signifying her coming of age. A young girl may be anxious to acquire her first bra before she actually needs support, if only for decorative purposes. She then is faced with the challenge of keeping current and wearing the latest, fashionable bra. Some young girls avoid wearing a bra, fearing an end to their childhood freedoms, including going topless or behaving boyishly. They resist the idea of conforming to typically feminine roles and behaviors. Girls who develop breasts earlier than their peers may be sensitive to comments and teasing. Because bras are built to manufacturers' standards, if the girl's body does not conform to the shape and size of the bra, she may blame herself.
Teenage females have a higher rate of body image issues than any other female age group. Girls who are unhappy with their breast size are driving an increase in the number of breast augmentation surgeries. The number of women under the age of 18 who received breast implants more than tripled between 1992 and 2002, increasing by 24 percent of the population. Teens who undergo breast augmentation are at risk for a higher number of risks and complications and may require additional surgery sooner than older women.