My Bra is Not Your Business

My Bra is Not Your Business
by Lisa Anderson on 01/08/2010 at 2:54 PM

It happened last night. A Facebook friend sent me a message asking me to post the color of my bra as my Facebook status. She said it was for "breast cancer awareness," and that women everywhere were doing it. She finished by saying something like, "Won't it be funny to have all our guy friends eventually wonder why we have colors listed as our statuses?"

Um, actually I can think of funnier things. But that's probably not the point. I'm all for breast cancer awareness. And female solidarity is fun. And bras are totally useful. Not to mention they come in a multitude of colors and patterns; I saw one with skulls the other day ... just sayin'.

But when I received my friend's message last night, I immediately thought two things:

1) This campaign was probably started not by altruistic cancer-warriors, but by a pervy teenage boy.

2) It would take men everywhere about 1.5 minutes or less to figure out what this is about and unwittingly become privy to the underwear choices of the ladies in their lives. Let's see ... what guy friends do I have on Facebook? Boundless listeners and readers for sure. Friends from church. Coworkers and colleagues. My brother. My boss. My PASTOR.

I decided pretty quickly that none of these dudes need to know what color bra I'm wearing. Ever.

EVER.

They certainly don't need to be picturing me in said bra. And they don't need to be fighting against the urge to do so. What are we thinking, ladies?! "Hey girls, let's kick off 2010 by putting inappropriate images in men's minds in the name of a wonderful cause!"

But I didn't think of this blazation as bloggable until a Boundless Show listener emailed me this morning and brought up the same scenario. And it got me thinking again: Has "much" become "too much" when it comes to sharing on Facebook and beyond? Is social media making us shameless? Or at the very least, sloppy? My Boundless emailer brought up the issue of her pregnant girlfriends posting awkward pregnancy photos. "Being pregnant does not give you license to drape yourself in nothing but a bedsheet, pose for a photo and display it to the world!", she argued.

I agree. Look, I share a lot of info about myself. And some of it could be TMI by many folks' standards. But with this brou-haha, I have again resolved to self-censor a bit more thoroughly. And a bit more often. I begin this campaign by assuring you that you will never hear or see what color bra I'm wearing, on the show or elsewhere.

Some things really are best left unsaid.

Men & Women | Mail This | Share on Facebook

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

1. BDB said the following at 2:56 PM on Jan 8:

Oh, it's been an interesting 24 hours.

2. Tami said the following at 3:02 PM on Jan 8:

That was my reaction as well...

All day I kept seeing those color updates and saying, ???? Once I learned what it was, my first thought was, "Why should I announce that?" And one of the FB groups said, "How is this going to raise awareness of breast cancer?" The only thing it made me aware of was what color people were wearing... :P

In the evening two of my friends had posted "None of your business!" in their statuses. I "liked" that.

3. Emme said the following at 3:03 PM on Jan 8:

THANK YOU! Many of my friends, even my Christian friends have done this and I thought I was the only one who thought it a poor idea to do! I feel the exact same way you do Lisa, and was one of the very few females on facebook who had not posted their bra color!

4. Alice said the following at 3:05 PM on Jan 8:

I'm right there with ya, Lisa. It may be a bit extreme, but I can't even bring myself to say anything along the lines of "when I was in the shower" in front of a man for fear it will conjure up my nude image in his mind. Of course, I'm ultra-modest, but I prefer to err on the side of modesty, especially when it comes to the things I say or do in a man's presence. And since I have a number of male Facebook friends, posting the color of my bra was not a bandwagon I cared to jump on.

On that note, though, I don't understand how this was supposedly raising awareness for breast cancer research??

5. Carl said the following at 3:07 PM on Jan 8:

You hit the nail on the head Lisa. All last night and this morning, I kept wondering "what the heck is that all about?" Then, this afternoon when I found out what it really was about, my first thought was "Crap, I wish I didn't know that" because subconciously my mind began remembering which of my female friends were putting which colors on their profiles. Without even trying, I was suddenly picturing a girl I'm very much interested in, in the color bra shared - and then frantically trying to stop picturing it.

So thanks Lisa for seeing the fallacy in this idea. Us guys have a hard time as it is...please don't advertise things like that.

6. KJ said the following at 3:17 PM on Jan 8:

Thought about that...thought it was just tacky. I agree that people overshare, and don't think about what they're putting up and whether it is appropriate or not. Even things that aren't "inappropriate" can be better left unsaid in the online world. A recent example in my own life: a family friend who wrote her congratulations on my engagement all over my facebook wall more than a day before I was ready to post that announcement online. (Funny thing - I actually had people I am friends with IN PERSON who I wanted to tell with my own mouth, not with a status update.) I'm trying really hard not to be an obnoxious bride and I don't think that the whole world revolves around me, but it was supposed to be my news to share and I'm upset that people found out about it from a facebook wall post.

Another personal pet peeve - people who announce their pregnancy with a pic of the pregnancy test stick. Eww...

7. Phillip said the following at 3:18 PM on Jan 8:

Nice to know I wasn't the only one thinking this this morning.

8. farmer Tom said the following at 3:20 PM on Jan 8:

Thanks, Lisa,

I don't need any female telling me about their undergarments. I have enough trouble with my thought life the way it is.

BTW, I wonder is any of you would think it is appropriate for my 14 year old daughters to post that information on their facebook pages.

I know I don't. They have too many teen male friends who would be corrupted by that image.

9. ctjen said the following at 3:20 PM on Jan 8:

thank you!! i couldn't agree more. that whole thing weirded me out. no need at all for my fiance and all the other guys i know to have that info.

10. Candice Watters said the following at 3:24 PM on Jan 8:

Let's call it what it is. It isn't a bro-haha, it's a bra-haha! I crack myself up! Seriously Lisa, I thought it was a crazy idea when I got invited TWICE yesterday, both invitations within minutes of each other. But you helped put my hunch into words. Thanks!

11. obewan said the following at 3:34 PM on Jan 8:

Now I know what was going on with my Facebook postings yesterday. I was afraid to ask. I thought they were talking about the color of the sky.

It really does not make a lot of difference to me or bring bad thoughts. I think it is worse to see women in church who show their bra straps with those tank tops or who wear see through blouses. With them it is in your face and no asking is required.

But I am shocked now to know that so many of my women friends went ahead and did it.

12. Mark said the following at 3:36 PM on Jan 8:

Good thing they weren't trying to raise awareness of colon cancer.

13. Jo said the following at 3:38 PM on Jan 8:

"Won't it be funny to have all our guy friends eventually wonder why we have colors listed as our statuses?"

So THAT'S what's going on! I've seriously been wondering for 2 days why a smattering of my Facebook friends have "Red!" or "White!" as their statuses. And I'm not even a guy.

I won't be posting mine. For all the reasons you mentioned, and also because "Jo (Surname) Blue!" - or whatever other colour - is not a valid sentence. My statuses must make sense, and that does not.

On the wider topic, it's very tempting to share far too much information on Facebook. I don't think I ever share anything inappropriate (although I know many who do), but there have been times when I've shared a fair bit about how I'm feeling without thinking about alllll the different people who see my page. (Occasionally I've worried people without meaning to!) Or made cryptic comments and ended up revealing more than I was planning to. It's a tricky one.

14. SH said the following at 3:38 PM on Jan 8:

"It would take men everywhere about 1.5 minutes or less to figure out what this is about and unwittingly become privy to the underwear choices of the ladies in their lives. Let's see ... what guy friends do I have on Facebook? Boundless listeners and readers for sure. Friends from church. Coworkers and colleagues. My brother. My boss. My PASTOR.

I decided pretty quickly that none of these dudes need to know what color bra I'm wearing. Ever.

EVER."

this was my thought process... exactly. i thought that this status "trend" was not only juvenile but very inconsiderate to our male counterparts who struggle with sexual images. like you said there are a lot of other ways to show female solidarity and support that are not only efficient but tasteful.

15. Tessa said the following at 3:44 PM on Jan 8:

I agree, thank you. I have been bothered by this since random colors started showing up on my friend's facebooks and girls started filling my inbox with requests.

16. Robert Hall said the following at 3:52 PM on Jan 8:

I have to agree with you absolutely.

Some of my guy friends and I were discussing it and one said it made him think about things he didn't need to think about.

I think the only thing this brought attention to was the color of a woman's unmentionables.

17. farmer Tom said the following at 3:54 PM on Jan 8:

BTW, Lisa, when I first saw this header,

I thought you were going to be talking about the violation of rights which the full body scanners represent.

Instead of targeting the profiles of the typical perpetrators of terrorism (male muslims) they will be subjecting you to full body scan, I wonder how you feel about having your body image available for male security officers to gaze at????

from todays Drudge report, may be considered X-rated. Full Body Scan

So much for personal privacy.

I don't want my daughters subjected to that either.

18. DEH said the following at 4:01 PM on Jan 8:

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this. I have been feeling the exact same way about all the color statuses my friends, my friends mothers, and even my mother-in-law have been posting for all the world to see. I'm glad I'm not the only one who is uncomfortable with this. There is still a thing as too much information!

19. Anna said the following at 4:01 PM on Jan 8:

Oh my goodness, I am SO GLAD I found this post! It's kind of a funny story ...

I am studying in Italy right now, and I had an Italian friend send me that exact same message in Italian. I read it quickly, and did not understand the details (like the word for bra!). I only got the part about a joke on the guys to have all the girls posting colors. But, just to be friendly to the girl who sent it, when I saw that she had a color posted on her status, I clicked the "Like" button.
Just two minutes later here I am reading this post . . . I had almost posted a color myself, not knowing what it was for! Whew! I just went back and took my "like" off of her status.
I completely agree with your assessment.
Thanks, Lisa! ;)

20. Rob G. said the following at 4:02 PM on Jan 8:

Amen...seriously, I'm a guy & I'll admit it was confusing at first. Then it starting gaining speed and I thought "what is this all about". Lisa, you are right. I peeked into twitter and there it was...the answer. Then, it got awkward when cousins, good friends, and, yes even moms and grandmas joined the 'cause'. Seriously, I think I threw up a little bit in my mouth on that one. It's one of the last things I wanted to know and the unwanted image is trying to scar itself into my mind. It also got me thinking, what if my wife posted her color. She did! Ack! That's for my knowledge only, if I'm lucky that is. Certainly no one else should get to know that. All this said...I agree...we should really think about the impact of the information we place in the public domain. If it's private enough to keep under your shirt...then why put it on the web? @frmrdj ( that’s me!)

21. Katy said the following at 4:06 PM on Jan 8:

ohhhhh
so that"s what it was about
I was wondering what all the colors were about. ew

22. Sirena said the following at 4:07 PM on Jan 8:

Amen! I just saw this today on my FB page and thought "And HOW is this going to promote cancer awareness??!!"

And yes, the guys aren't stupid.

23. Wendy said the following at 4:09 PM on Jan 8:

All I have to say is Thank You Lisa...I first started off by thinking what is going on, what is it of course I immediately wanted to put a random color not knowing what it was about, finally one of my guy friends asked and well I got my answer..I was like Whoa Whoa...TMI Ladies, not to mention some of my ladies are Moms... Hello!!!

24. Leigh said the following at 4:10 PM on Jan 8:

hmm.. I saw where everyone was posting random colors. Now I know! Do men really get dirty minded that easily? I don't have any guy friends who would even understand thats what was going on.

25. Jennifer said the following at 4:16 PM on Jan 8:

Well said, Lisa! Not only is it TMI, but how, exactly, is it helping to beat breast cancer?

And while I'm on the topic, why do professional athletes wear pink shoes and pink gloves and pink everything to fight breast cancer? Why not just donate 1% of their paycheck? *That* would actually help!

26. Kellie said the following at 4:17 PM on Jan 8:

Totally agree!

27. Brittanie said the following at 4:17 PM on Jan 8:

I most heartily agree. I've seen the color postings and at first thought it was a friend noting some color she'd chosen to paint a room or something. But more people were doing it and it didn't add up. Then I realized what was up. Several guys I know have posted on their girl friend's statuses asking them not to for the very reason you state: "They certainly don't need to be picturing me in said bra. And they don't need to be fighting against the urge to do so."

I'm a bit aghast that so many of my friends have done this. How does this raise awareness of breast cancer? It seems to me rather to raise awareness of things that folk should not be aware of.

Hmmm...perhaps I should make this blog post my facebook status.

28. Susie said the following at 4:28 PM on Jan 8:

I saw that too, and opted not to go with it either. Many of my friends did it, but I agree with you...some things just DON'T need to be shared with the whole wide world! (Not to mention the obvious fact that a person could probably come up with many much more effective ways to raise breast cancer awareness!)

29. Tara said the following at 4:28 PM on Jan 8:

Some of my friends are posting "TMI" as their Facebook status as a mild protest.

Mary Carmichael of Newsweek (whose blog I do not normally read, so please note that I cannot vouch for her content outside of the article linked to below), points out that these publicity tricks can actually be disrespectful or undermining of the actual suffering and hardship of breast cancer:

"You know what I didn't do? Think about breast cancer. That, however, was supposedly the point of the exercise. No one yet knows who started the meme, but apparently, someone kicked it off a few days ago with a chain-letter-style Facebook message to a bunch of women, asking them to virtually flash the world in the name of supporting medical research, and to forward the note only to other female friends, and to be aware of breasts. Sorry, breast cancer. Right.

...This isn't awareness or education; it's titillation."

How many people on Facebook are actually more aware breast cancer now, and how many are just more aware of bras and breasts?

Here's a link to the article:

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2010/01/08/what-color-is-your-bra-facebook-s-pointless-underwear-protest.aspx

30. Gina said the following at 4:45 PM on Jan 8:

I agree. And I had the same thought about the "campaign" probably being created by a male with an ulterior motive. (Not bashing any of you guys here; just saying that there was probably a dirty-minded male involved in this particular case!)

31. melanie de Jong said the following at 4:55 PM on Jan 8:

Thank you so much for saying exactly what I was thinking. I had no idea for quite some time what all these colours meant until this morning when it all came together. I struggled with what to do, join in, stay silent or challenge those "friends". Well I decided to challenge, most were put aback that they hadn't thought it through and aplogized for doing so, some thought it was a great idea, however, those were ladies who unfortunately do not have a relationship with Christ. We are becoming more and more aware in our congregation and community that men do indeed struggle with sexual sin, and are working with the Lord to keep themselves pure. We must be respectful of each other in that way, respect our men and sons as well as each other as women.
The fight, is against the disease, that's where the awareness should be focused, not on an article of clothing and with no explanation in the status given, it leaves far too much for the imagination. Let's put "Make cancer history" as our status, that's much more to the point and effective than any colour!
I have a girlfriend who has won the battle against breastcancer and I emailed her before I posted my status that she knew I supported her %100 and that my disappoval of the coloured bra movement was not to disrespect her.
Like I said, thank you for this, there's so much more that could be said, but you did a great job already!
Blessings to you!
Melanie de Jong
Spencerville, ON Canada

32. Louise from Chicago said the following at 4:57 PM on Jan 8:

I don't even wear a bra somedays, so what would I post?

33. a sassy sister said the following at 4:59 PM on Jan 8:

actually, when I got the message on FB, I actually simply issued a statement saying that I support breast cancer awareness but was not giving that information out....

34. clo said the following at 4:59 PM on Jan 8:

Totally agree, has inspired me to take facebook for Chirst ! - have added the bellow slightly adapted as my status update
8Finally, brothers,(and sisters) whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think AND FACEBOOK about such things.phil 4:8

35. Alicia said the following at 5:00 PM on Jan 8:

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this article. I, too, thought; "why in the world would I post this for the males in my life to see and picture me in my bra?"

Sometimes I wonder if I am too conservative, and sometimes I think I look too far into things. Its good to see I am not the only one who feels this way.

36. Matt said the following at 5:04 PM on Jan 8:

But the sad part of it, is that some of the fun the females are getting out of it is the stress that is causes the guys. So, there is this new message going around that says

"The color thing got the boys so riled up today, we thought we'd try this again... This will get them thinking. Let's see how dirty their minds are.

Ok, so this is the game - It's about how you have your hair styled.
..."

They then follow with different suggestive phrases that imply alot more than how their hair is stupid.

Females can be very frustrating some times.

One of the funnier responses is when one of my male friends put as his status "Hot Pink". I linked to this post on his status. Maybe some of my female friends will see this and think twice.

I didn't really feel like putting it on all their walls. Don't want to step into that mess.

37. Tara said the following at 5:05 PM on Jan 8:

This fad was so bizarre. First off...how does knowing what color bra I'm wearing help fight breast cancer? And what is "breast cancer awareness," anyway? I'm curious now. Who in the world has been living their lives totally unaware of breast cancer 'til now? And honestly...if someone is so dense as to not already be aware of breast cancer, do we really think they're going to be smart enough to figure out the bra status?

Not to mention that some women thought they were supposed to post the color of their knickers, which totally destroys the supposed goal of raising cancer awareness. Unless they were doing it to raise awareness of ovarian cancer. Uh-huh. Your hypothesis of the perv makes way more sense.

38. BDB said the following at 5:10 PM on Jan 8:

KJ (#6) wrote:

>>A recent example in my own life: a family friend who wrote her congratulations on my engagement all over my facebook wall more than a day before I was ready to post that announcement online<<

Ahhhh...good safety tip. Before telling anyone, re-set the privacy settings so that NO ONE can post comments on status updates or on the Wall. Then, after changing FB status to "Engaged," open the settings back up again.

Congratulations by the way. I think that's seven.

39. Gina said the following at 5:11 PM on Jan 8:

Ooh, I like the idea of putting "None of your business" or "TMI" in the status. Wish I'd thought of it.

And thanks for the "Newsweek" link, Tara.

40. Menekse said the following at 5:16 PM on Jan 8:

Praise the LORD there are still Christians who have a sense of propriety before their brothers in the LORD!

I had no idea what the colour thing was about, and have seen many of my friends from Church updating random colours. Including a guy (who, it transpired, had no idea what it was about, but just randomly updated a colour). When i found out, i was mildly horrified as i think it is most inappropriate... Wasn't sure if i was overreacting! So thank you for this post, and may our continued prayer be for the regeneration of hearts, minds and motives, that all would be pure before JEHOVAH God!

41. Peter said the following at 5:18 PM on Jan 8:

Can we include bra-straps in what can reasonably be kept out of the public eye?

More a taste thing, but still....

Regards.... Peter

42. Elizabeth said the following at 5:18 PM on Jan 8:

I actually wasn't aware of this at all, even though I spend way too much time on Facebook.

43. BDB said the following at 5:21 PM on Jan 8:

Hmmm...after a while it just started reminding me of the women over the years who asked me to help them move, and when I arrived I thought, "I thought you had all this stuff in boxes already!"

But I do know a number of women who've succumbed to or survived breast cancer, so my wall quickly became a discussion of the disease and how the pending health care reform will significantly harm the search for a cure for metastic breast cancer. Know all those speeches where Obama talks about how we need to only spend money on PROVEN treatments? There IS NO proven treatment for metastic breast cancer. All the treatments that work are still classified as experimental.

44. Kelly said the following at 5:27 PM on Jan 8:

My great-aunt, who IS a Christian pastor and a cancer survivor, participated and thought it was great fun. She followed up with letting us all know (in msg) that she'd scheduled her mammogram for next week. The other women in the family replied in kind. I can't think of anything more loving and family-oriented then finding a light-hearted way to remind our dear ones to look after their health.

45. Rachael Starke said the following at 5:28 PM on Jan 8:

Lisa, girlfriend, you are Spot. On . I could not believe the number of usually mature, reasonable Christian women who somehow got convinced that if they didn't do this, they were somehow being insensitive to breast cancer victims. The very worst was one girl who posted something about how she wasn't sure about the whole thing, but then her pastor's wife made a giggly reference to it and did it, so it must be okay.

As I put on my status, if my male friends started putting up "boxers" or "leopard-print briefs" on their statuses, my husband would be walking around looking for them and choking them with the aformentioned garments.

46. Stephanie said the following at 5:39 PM on Jan 8:

Had no idea that's what it was about - so much for cancer awareness. Eeewww.

47. Dianne said the following at 5:40 PM on Jan 8:

AMEN!! Excellent job of saying precisely what I was thinking when I got that same message on FB. Therefore, I did not participate in that nonsense.

48. Tina said the following at 5:40 PM on Jan 8:

I didn't think about any of these points when I - just as a matter of fun - joined the game. I don't think any women I know did it to try to make men get images in their minds; it was a game between us women. No man I saw post on anyone's page had a clue about what it meant. I understand about discretion and all, but I think this is too much overreaction to that which was meant as harmless fun.

49. DEH said the following at 5:41 PM on Jan 8:

Like Farmer Tom (17), I too am curious to hear Boundless's take on full-body scans.

50. Patricia Hunter (Pollywog Creek) said the following at 5:52 PM on Jan 8:

Very well stated. Thank you. I've just been ignoring it all.

51. Sasha said the following at 5:54 PM on Jan 8:

Even aside from the ridiculous "color" thing, the whole "awareness" trend in modern culture really irritates me. It seems like just a shortcut to help self-focused people to feel better about themselves without really doing anything to help anyone. As in, "Wow, I just donated my Facebook status to breast cancer 'awareness'! Now I feel so noble and altruistic." I'm with Jennifer (#25) -- if you want to help a cause you care about, how about doing or sacrificing something that's actually meaningful?

52. Elisabeth said the following at 5:55 PM on Jan 8:

Oh, Lord, I know I'm a baby Christian, but apparently I have a mountain of knowledge and wisdom to seek, and I don't know if all the days of my life (no matter how many there are) will be enough!

As I was reading this article I slouched further and further down in my seat because guess what? I did that! And I never ONCE thought about the possible ramifications of doing that until right this minute as I was reading this article.

Thanks so much for writing this, and I dearly hope that if anything like that comes up again, I will have the wisdom and maturity to think it through before jumping in with the rest of 'em.

53. Joanna said the following at 6:04 PM on Jan 8:

This sinks wannabe activism to make people feel good down to a whole new level of patheticness. I'm all for thoughtful properly done awareness raising- even through social media. This is not an example of the worthwhile stuff. When people are made to think they have contributed something to a good cause by doing something like this it deludes the person into thinking they've done their bit (which means they probably won't do helpful stuff as well), wastes other peoples time and makes the cause seem petty.

54. Patricia C said the following at 6:06 PM on Jan 8:

Ugh. It's ridiculous and childish. I posted as my status that it wouldn't be helpful to a man's imagination. It makes me a little sad that for a while, only men thanked me for speaking up. Now the girls are mad at me for spilling the beans.

55. very embarassed said the following at 6:08 PM on Jan 8:

Aaaaahhhhh! I got a version of this from a close friend; didn't say anythign about the breast cancer awareness thing, and I thought it was a small inside joke.... and NOW I find out everyone else in the world has known about the colors for DAYS?!?!?!?

56. Melissa S. said the following at 6:10 PM on Jan 8:

Amen! I finally figured out what all the colors were for and was kinda surprised to see girls who I thought wouldn't do things like that posting their bra colors in public. Yikes!

57. Mary said the following at 6:19 PM on Jan 8:

OK, so does anyone have a creative clean way to bring about Breast Cancer Awareness or is this just about throwing rocks 'cuz your religious sensitivities got bruised??

58. MrsLarijani said the following at 6:19 PM on Jan 8:

I was hoping Boundless was going to post on this facebook fad!

This is what I posted as my status message today:
" is not going to put the color of her bra on facebook. Someone please explain to me how one can be any more aware of breast cancer. Breast cancer awareness is a noble cause, to be sure. I fail see how people posting random colors on facebook raises MORE awareness. If you are a guy and the random colors posted on facebook have all of a sudden made you more knowledgeable about breast cancer, please let me know."

Two (recently married) guy friends immediately "liked" my status.

I then decided to do something a little different to raise awareness about cancer. I posted the following description for a link to the American Cancer Society's website:

"Using the American Cancer Society's website, I am going to be an equal opportunity cancer awareness supporter. Let's start with Adrenal Cancer. I will go down the list week by week until we have covered everything."

59. Hayley said the following at 6:21 PM on Jan 8:

My husband blogged about this today:

http://www.babbleofthesexes.com

60. JenFromMA said the following at 6:24 PM on Jan 8:

I'm so glad that other people think this way! When I heard about it I was a little weirded out...and then part of me wanted to do it just to seem "cool". So, SO lame! And definitely not helpful towards my male friends. I attend a women's college and it seems like every status is the same thing...

61. Scoke said the following at 6:26 PM on Jan 8:

It's like I told a friend on Facebook who had your same sentiments. Keep in mind that the internet isn't all serious business. Heck, I didn't even know what it was until a fan page I joined (The Sarcasm Society, of all things) explained what this was.

I agree it's a great cause (even if it wasn't started by a woman), and I appreciate the gestures everyone is doing to support it... But it's funny how they don't say what it's for in their status update. That's what is misleading about this, in my opinion. I have a feeling that if they really wanted to support the cause, they probably wouldn't be playing this game like they are, and would state what it's for straight up.

I can think of plenty of other creative ways to go about raising awareness for this, however. It's not hard. But this *is* America, things just have to be sex-oriented in some form or another.

62. shelby said the following at 6:26 PM on Jan 8:

I have to say that I agree with above comments - most ridiculous idea I have seen in a long time. Before I knew what it was about, I was wondering what I was missing...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Reminds me that there are more important things for me to do rather than Facebook - might be time for FB withdrawal in this new year!

63. BDB said the following at 6:33 PM on Jan 8:

At least facebook leaves things to the imagination.

I live really close to a big high school. During cross country and track season, there are all sorts of teenagers running around the neigborhood. I kinda expect some of the guys to take off their shirts when running.

But the girls do it too. Perodically I'll be stopped at a stoplight and a half-dozen of them will cross in front of my car in their spandex and sports bras, carrying their shirts for when they get back to campus. There IS a dress code I guess.

At least I can always look at by blackberry when driving instead.

64. MA said the following at 6:37 PM on Jan 8:

About an hour after reading this blog entry, I logged onto Facebook to find a non-Christian male friend with this as his status:

URGENT! FACEBOOK VIRUS ALERT. An email recently went out to women asking them to post the color of their bra. THIS IS A VIRUS. To fix it, you must remove your bra, then go to Settings>Enable Webcam>Record Movie.

65. Elisabeth said the following at 6:40 PM on Jan 8:

If it's really a gender issue, then you could create a facebook list of females and of males and only make the status post available to your female friends.

66. Jake said the following at 6:42 PM on Jan 8:

I don't see the point in this post at all. What was the intended purpose?

67. Elisabeth said the following at 6:52 PM on Jan 8:

Seriously stessed guys? I think you're all a bit ridiculous. Guys think about sex 25 million times a day. One more won't make a big difference. And if they don't care about the girl it won't do any harm. And if they do care about the girl then they've probably already had much worse thoughts. Get out and experience the world and you'll learn that your bizarre ideas of modesty are seriously irrational.

68. Eno said the following at 6:57 PM on Jan 8:

Thank God... I'm not alone. I'm not the only one who didn't want other people to picture her in her underwear...

69. K.L. said the following at 7:18 PM on Jan 8:

Louise (#32):

TMI. LOL

70. Nicole said the following at 7:24 PM on Jan 8:

I'm a little surprised that this is even a big deal. Its pretty tacky to post the color of your bra, its the sort of thing that high school girls would do, but really is this all that big of a deal? I mean its too lame to even get offended over as far as I'm concerned.

71. Anonymous said the following at 7:38 PM on Jan 8:

I'm a guy and I have seen all of the facebook statuses as colors and that did strike me as kind of odd. But I didn't exactly need to read here as to what those colors were doing. I did not care about the colors, and now I wish I hadn't have read this post. I will agree it probably was an immature 15 year old boy or a woman who did not think about the ramifications of that idea for the men on facebook. Furthermore, posting a color on facebook does not do anything for support of breast cancer awareness. Praying for and encouraging those women who are struggling or have struggled through the malady of breast cancer is a much more appropriate way to support breast cancer awareness. I think I may very well avoid facebook for the next week so I don't have to read those statuses.

72. Erin said the following at 7:42 PM on Jan 8:

I teach High School. I am friends with some of my students on Facebook. What kind of role model would I be for my young girls, not only flaunting private information, but condoning the deliberate manipulation of men? And why would I ever volunteer that information in an arena that my male students have access to?

73. Mark said the following at 7:55 PM on Jan 8:

"It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble" (Romans 14:21, emphasis mine).

74. Adam W. B. said the following at 8:17 PM on Jan 8:

The other part that hurts us guys is the young women who posted as none, nude, or commando, which to me is worse than a color and something I don't want the temptation to struggle with.

75. HAP said the following at 8:31 PM on Jan 8:

LIKE!!!!!!

76. Mathew B. said the following at 8:56 PM on Jan 8:

Thank you for taking the time to post this comment. I have been considered to be a prude by many people. One gentleman even called me an idiot for debating this issue. Thanks for making me feel relieved that I am not legalistic about this issue.

In Him,
Mathew

77. Alicia said the following at 9:03 PM on Jan 8:

I thought the same thing yesterday when I saw it--that it was probably started by some dirty guy that wanted to spur convo about what women were wearing underneath everything. : P I was tempted to post because everyone else was....but stopped when I thought about what it meant for all the guys out there. Some things are better left unsaid.

78. Janice said the following at 9:10 PM on Jan 8:

Seriously!! Preach it, girlfriend!! And when the guys start their version posting inappropriate info for some "good" cause, I hope women don't crack down hard on them for being pervs. Such double standards...LAME!

79. Alicia said the following at 9:11 PM on Jan 8:

PS: It's actually really awesome to hear so many guys on here in protest to the bra color post! There's a stereotype that says that guys openly think about those things without regret, so it's awesome to hear that so many ARE disturbed by it and WANT to keep their hearts and minds pure. Go guys! : )!

80. Rebecca Blair said the following at 9:46 PM on Jan 8:

I thought the same thing and even though I've been married 28 years, I'm not posting that anywhere, anyway!! Good grief. What are we thinking?

81. Courtney said the following at 9:50 PM on Jan 8:

That's awesome Lisa, thank you very much for enlightening me on something I have also been puzzling over. For 2 days it's been nothing but black, white, purple etc and I've also been having to barely tolerate the images posted by one of my 'new mother' friends.
Maybe some aspiring writer should publish a facebook code to go in Christian bookstores based on the 10 Commandments or suchlike. Could be a very interesting and necessary read.

82. Olivia Fong said the following at 9:54 PM on Jan 8:

I really don't think someone's intention was to make men stumble by thinking of women in red, white or black - or whatever colors their bras are. Should men not walk in a mall anymore? Bras are everywhere in stores and I'm sure they walk past them when they walk in a mall. I'm surprised at the intense condemnation from people because someone posted a color in their status. Who cares? To waste our time "erupting" in anger over a color being posted - wow - some of you have a lot of time on your hands.

83. j8705 said the following at 10:06 PM on Jan 8:

Obviously, it's done what it was intended to by raising the most awareness and conversations about breast cancer than have been recently raised in years. I fully support it, and think it's been a great contribution to awareness for the facebook network.

84. Brittany M. said the following at 10:11 PM on Jan 8:

THANK YOU. I am so with you on this! I've been thinking the same. It's ridiculous. As for it being funny to confuse the guys... Um, I'm pretty sure men are smarter than we're giving them credit for on that one. Seriously.

85. Amanda said the following at 10:27 PM on Jan 8:

It's not just the bra thing, either. People do all kinds of stuff in the name of "awareness" of one thing or another. I think we're all aware that breast cancer exists. Stunts like this really just make you feel like a good person without having to actually DO something about it.

86. Amanda said the following at 10:30 PM on Jan 8:

Also, note how none of the comments are in in favor of the bra status. That's because when people stop to think about it, they realize how silly it is.

87. The G said the following at 10:30 PM on Jan 8:

Dear Lisa,

You rock. These were my thoughts exactly, but you put them down with panache. Perhaps we should put this up on our fb walls instead!

~The G

88. Kara said the following at 10:32 PM on Jan 8:

And people ask me why I'm not on Facebook? Hmm..I just don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. Yes, Lisa, social media is making everyone shameless! Yikes.

89. Willie... said the following at 10:47 PM on Jan 8:

I saw this nonsense happening yesterday. It became clear what was going on only a short time later. Right. Men are NOT stupid.

I have been advocating for my struggling Brothers ever since I saw the truth behind this! MANY precious Sisters in Christ have posted apologies for not thinking before doing it. One thing is certain, it has raised awareness of something! (Other than breast cancer!)

It has raised some awareness of Satan's cleverness! While he gets some people thinking "This is no big deal!" he is also whispering into the minds of many men, "So-and-so is wearing PINK! Imagine...."

He is very clever. Well, I believe this little ploy will BACKFIRE on him! Already, there is a GROWING groundswell of Christian ladies expressing their regret at falling for this. Surely, there will NOT BE A NEXT TIME! Satan has LOST a significant amount of "cover" on this one! We are becoming aware of him!!

The Body of Christ is being woken-up to the fact that we have allowed Satan to desensitize us to these kinds of things!

Spread the word. Post your thoughts here and on Facebook and Twitter, etc. FIGHT BACK! Resist the DEVIL and he WILL FLEE! In Jesus' Name!!!

Thank you, one and all! :)

90. Kimberly said the following at 10:48 PM on Jan 8:

Thank you Lisa!
Also, I read a post somewhere else from a breast cancer survivor who said it was only a painful reminder to her that she doesn't own and will never again wear a bra....OUCH.

I too thought it sounded like something invented by a teen boy ;)...glad I'm not the only one. Seriously who wants to know? Who needs to know? how does this help? The same could be said by the way for a lot of the campaigns on FB....

91. Tacuache said the following at 11:08 PM on Jan 8:

Maybe it's because I live on the coast, but I really don't find this to be that big of a deal. I say that to mean that almost all the time, I can look out my window and see girls in bikinis. Honestly ladies, what in the world is the difference between your lingerie and your beachwear? So call me jaded or desensitized, or whatever, but it really seems like no big deal. Seriously, if you are worried about having impure thoughts after a colour, I believe whatever problem you have is something that goes beyond this. Women wear bras, I wear boxers! Dare I say, sometimes even plaid ones????? lol

If it really does bug and/or tempt you I'm sorry and I hope that you have this temptation removed from you. Seriously though, it's a colour of an article of clothing. Your mother wears them, your wife will, if you have daughters they will. You can see them everywhere from Wal-Mart to Neiman Marcus. It's definitely TMI, but it shouldn't be a cause to wring your hands this hard.

92. Lizzie said the following at 12:07 AM on Jan 9:

Bravo!

Prov. 11:22 applies here. My pastor, father, brother, other pastors, etc are friends of mine on facebook. Why would I do something like that?

The only man who's business it is is my husbands.

93. Katrece said the following at 12:24 AM on Jan 9:

This "color" thing is so immature and absolutely ridiculous. I haven't been on FB in a few days, and didn't know about this, but I'm sure many of my fellow Christian female friends will have posted their favorite color. How is that Christ-honoring? Really? I'll also not be suprised to see some of my fellow mid-twenties to mid-thirties "leaders" in my church have posted responses. I'm glad for the warning, Lisa! I'll definitely not be airing out my clean, supposed to be discreet, laundry for all my friends :)

94. Ivy said the following at 12:57 AM on Jan 9:

For the most part, most men on Facebook did not figure out what was going on. The ones that did, saw a color, probably thought about it for a second and then moved on. All would have been forgotten, peoples status deleted and all would have blown over within another day. BUT... Because of blogs coming out about this (which will stay on line longer than a Facebook status) the men that didn't know what was going on...know now. That means your father, brother, Pastor and so on. If anything, all the blogs and posting have just called more attention to it.

Was posting the color on Facebook in bad taste? YES! It's sad that we waste our time and energy on stupid tacky stuff and give people who do bad things attention....and that includes me! It would have been cool if all the females on Facebook posted the color "pink" to actually show support for breast cancer awareness!!

95. Angela said the following at 1:09 AM on Jan 9:

Personally didnt think it to be a big deal. I told my husband about it and he thought it was funny. Then I saw this post. So again I shared it with my husband. He said nothing about the whole situation ever made him visualize all these females in their undergarments. I thought I might add that I received a few of these requests yesterday and a couple of them also reminded the receiver to perform a self breast exam. So it wasn't completely in vain. I actually appologize if someone was truly offended by the colors because it's not my personal mission to offend someone. I think there are alot of people who would say they would have to really dig deep to come to those thoughts. Those who don't have to dig so deep, maybe have other issues they need to resolve.

96. Jo said the following at 3:13 AM on Jan 9:

Louise, 32: One of my male friends wrote 'Invisible'. :)

97. Paula said the following at 4:02 AM on Jan 9:

Tara (#37): Yeah, what's with the 'pink-wash' these days? How does "breast cancer awareness" foster cancer prevention or cures? I am none the wiser on breast cancer facts for seeing literally hundreds of products and advertisements that have some link with breast cancer "awareness". Ironic, too, when anti-perspirants are clothed in pink. (Underarm aluminium absorption is suspected to increase the risk of developing breast cancer.)

98. Jennifer S. said the following at 4:47 AM on Jan 9:

Wow. I have never heard of this fad until I have read this. None of my girl friends on Facebook shared their bra color - I checked! I find this fad kind of disturbing. I hope this fad is over soon.

99. Mark said the following at 5:06 AM on Jan 9:

You must be joking... That was a complete misandric rant. "My first thought was that it was a pervy teenage boy..." This is the 21st century, and quite frankly, a bra colour is really not titillating in the age of instant electronic access.
"Hey girls, let's kick off 2010 by putting inappropriate images in men's minds in the name of a wonderful cause!"
Yes, because men cannot see the point of this fad, and instead bypass a cause that although admittedly skewed to the female side, has affected many families, and can only have some perverse, base thought about our female friends. Our FRIENDS. I don't know what it is how you think we'd react, but I for one am pretty capable of not thinking of my FRIENDS in a sexual manner.
If you think that the colour of your bra, or my jocks, or anyone's undergarments, instantly become a segway into sexual thought, then you need to realise they're just clothes, and that maybe a candid and light hearted broaching of a subject as heavy as cancer is bigger than embarassment over your friends knowing your underwear colour for a day.

100. Amir Larijani said the following at 6:40 AM on Jan 9:

100

Lisa:

I couldn't figure out why people were just posting colors on their FB statuses. Later, my wife told me what that was all about.

Needless to say, I'd have to agree with your sentiments.

I mean goodnesss...what are we going to have next? Men posting the color of their underwear, in order to raise awareness for prostate cancer?

Contributors

About Us

Relevant Boundless Articles

SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL

Newer Post | Older Post