This Comic Shows the Sexist Struggle of Shopping for Underwear
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Shopping for underwear is supposed to be fun, but often, it leaves you wanting to burn your bras.
A hilarious new comic from 21-year-old Romanian-Canadian artist C. Cassandra on College Humor captures the relatable nightmare of browsing pricey lingerie — which too often, might send you disempowering messages about your body and sex life.
These garments often have creepy, demeaning messages slapped on them.
C. Cassandra - tumblr.com
It's hard to feel great about yourself when you browse through panties that overtly objectify women, and suggest that you buy them to please someone else — which feels particularly insulting when it costs an arm and a leg to cover your nether regions.
As any woman who has spent time in a Victoria's Secret or department store lingerie dressing room is well aware, most popular lingerie brands do not promote women's comfort.
C. Cassandra - tumblr.com
More often, undies and bras evoke a return to age of whale bone corsets, and suggest that embracing your sexuality means being constrained by under wire or having a nylon string between your ass cheeks. If that doesn't leave you feeling especially sexy or body positive, you're certainly not alone.
The available sizes of underwear and bras in most stores also tend to perpetuate unrealistic body standards, and exclude plus-size women and those with large breasts.
C. Cassandra - tumblr.com
Luckily, many women channel their frustration with the experience by creating underwear with a feminist ethos, as BUST reported.
The company Feminist Style puts a particularly clever twist on the objectifying messages that panties often have. Instead of encouraging groping or labeling body parts, their underwear is printed with messages about consent and female empowerment, like "Only yes means yes," "Ask me what I like," and simply "I 💖 consent."
You can see C. Cassandra's full comic on College Humor, and view more of her work on her Tumblr.