Why do you assume women wear padded bras and push-up bras to fool men?  I wear a C cup, so I've never needed a padded bra, but I can understand women who do.  Most clothes aren't made for women with A cups (if they were, I wouldn't be able to buy clothes).  Just a little padding can make clothes look and fit so much better.  By and large, I think women wear padded bras for themselves, enhancing their appearance and their confidence, rather than to trick men into bed with them.  I don't see padded bras as an apology for having small breasts.  If clothes were fitted to the specifications of each individual woman, there would be much less need for padded bras.  Since most clothes aren't, padded bras are just another way for women to look their best in the clothes they have.

The same is true for the other extreme--women with D cups and above who wear bras to minimize their breast size.  This doesn't necessarily mean women who wear minimizers are apologizing for having large breasts.  It just means that clothes fitted for B and C cups look overly sexual on women with larger breasts in a normal bra.  Minimizers expand the range of clothes they can find and be confident in just as padded bras give more clothing options to flat-chested women.

Men forget how much clothes affect how women are perceived.  A flat-chested woman in an ill-fitted outfit is ignored or assumed to be very young or somewhat masculine.  A woman with large breasts in the wrong bra is assumed to be a slut, only because of her body.  It's only natural to use underwear to avoid these perceptions.

It's to trick men.. nothing more fucking annoying than a woman who wears a padded bra that makes her look like she has large breasts only to find out she has tiny ones..

So what's the conclusion? Was she a cancer survivor?

Oops, I missed the paragraph with the conclusion.

gp--I'm sorry but the whole "women wear padded bras for themselves" argument doesn't hold water.  If small-breasted women did not on some level think small breasts were undesirable or less desirable to men than they would have no need of "enhancing their confidence and appearance" with padded bras. No matter how independent-minded we may like to think of ourselves as, our confidence in the way we look is largely determined by the way be believe others see us.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that women who wear padded bras are trying to "trick men into bed" (I don't think amboabe was saying that either) but it definitely has to do with men.  As for the clothes-fit argument, I don't think that's true either.  My sister's an A, and she's never had any problem finding well-fitting clothes. She just shops for clothes that flatter her body, instead of somebody else's.

i have small breasts and some days i wish i had larger ones.  i have bought padded bras to wear specifically with certain clothes i have.  I in general can not stand them though and usually they stay in my closet unworn.  I finally realized i am never going to have the cleavage i want and i for the most part am over it.  it's just boobs i have soo many other things to offer.  i know one reason women with small breasts have padded bras...it is so freakin difficult to find ones that aren't padded in smaller sizes.  damn bra industry.  but hey we can wear clothes women with large breasts can't get away with and go braless so it evens out.  oh by the way loobetcha not everything in the world is about men and you sound like an ass.  "nothing more fucking annoying"  i can think of many things especially at this exact moment.  And amboabe it's always nice to hear people say they like people for the person they are, not the ideal.  it must be a strange experience thinking a boob will be there and then it's not.  probably part of the reason I don't like to wear padded bras unless i deem it necessary fashion wise is because I am who I am and I don't want a guy to think i'm something else.  

zeitgeisty:

i have no freakin idea.  if i had cleavage i would show it off.  you can have tasteful cleavage.  a hint is sexy.  use what you've got.  I need to find me a leg man.  clearly not you.  nice photo on your post today by the way.  really makes big boobs look dreadful to have.  made me laugh.  do guys really like that shit?  fake boobs?  i hope it was a joke.  an unfunny one.  i kinda wish i had never seen that but i'll get over it cause everyone has a different sense of humor. yeah. over it.  

"My sister's an A, and she's never had any problem finding well-fitting clothes. She just shops for clothes that flatter her body, instead of somebody else's."

Umm...  Is you're sister very fined boned?  See I think it's also about proportions, not just cup size.  But yeah, there's plenty of clothes I'm too small-busted for.  And then some I look perfectly nice in...

I must admit, I have always wondered if I would get more dates if I had some significant boobage.  But I've never worn padded bras to test it.  Maybe someday I should, just more as a sociological experiment.

zeitgeisty:

I think you're wrong.  Because my sister shows of cleavage in her photos.  Then again, she's pretty young -could be older women are fed up with the rude comments about their breasts, kind of like that convo we had the other day...

Toluca--Yes, she is fine-boned actually.  We all are in my family (the women, that is). I suppose that could make a difference when clothes shopping.

Zeit--I think smaller-chested women maybe try to show more cleavage because they're self-conscious about having small breasts and are trying to maximize them as much as possible. Big-chested women try to hide their chests more because they're probably tired of guys staring at their chests when they're talking to them etc. Especially if they started developing really young and had to deal with that kind of scrutiny and self-consciousness at an early age. (One of my best friends, a double-D before she got reductions, could tell you all about this...) The grass always looks greener, I guess. At just below a C-cup--pretty much dead average--I'm thankful to have mostly avoided these issues.

This reminds me of the scene in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka when Keenan Ivory Wayans gets the woman back to her place and she starts by removing her hair, and it moves on to the truss, the padded bra and the prosthetic leg...

I don't see a padded bra as false advertising though, really.  If you're going to go there, you might as well include eyeliner, lipstick, high heels... just go the distance.  I don't really see it as poor self image or anything else either.  It just is...

I figure if I'm home with her, and we're getting naked, life is good.  

I've also known several women who wear padded bras (of all bust sizes) because they have pointy nipples and don't want to look like their either turned on or freezing all the time.

I'm going to add to the chorus of posters who point out that small women can have a very difficult time finding clothes.  I'm a 32AA or A and I have been told to buy a larger bra and stuff by saleswomen in plenty of nicer stores (including a bra store specializing in hard-to-fit women).  Your friend doesn't have a body image problem; she has a shopping problem.

Also, props to the guy who noted that prominent nipples tend to travel with small breasts.  That padding is necessary in business situations.