This post is about BOOBS.

It's been that long since I used my laptop for anything other than binge-watching TV series, that I've almost forgotten how to type. But here I am! Char and I are visiting Perth at the moment and loving it. Charlotte lives in her little bikini and banters with my grandpa 24/7. I say 24/7 because she even banters with him in her sleep. 

Ta-da! I am standing in water! 

We're staying with my grandparents, who are the light of my life. When my mum was pregnant with me and my sister was 5 months old, my dad died in a tragic and sudden accident. My mum was left a single mother of (soon to be) two daughters. My grandparents moved in with us and helped raise us. This has left us with an extremely close relationship. If I could go as far to call my grandparents my best friends, I would. 

 My grandparents are 80 and 83 years old (don't tell them I told you that). They are the most tolerant, accepting, thoughtful and kind people you will ever meet. But that being said, they were born in a different time. So when I told my grandpa that I will only wear a bra for my own comfort and support. NOT because it is expected of me as a woman to hide my breasts from the wandering eyes of the public, he was understandably shocked. It's hard to disagree with people I love so much, but it is something I feel strongly about, and (in case you don't know already, which I doubt) I identify as a feminist.

I can already hear some of you saying, HEARD ENOUGH OF THAT RECENTLY and clicking the window closed. I know this subject has been done so many times before, especially in the last year via social media. But it's something so important that it NEEDS to be continuously explored, and I for one LOVE the awareness the feminist movement has generated as of late. But what I DON'T love is the misunderstanding and stigma attached.

It saddens me that identifying as a feminist is now synonymous with crazy, man hating, extremist. If you know me, you know I am none of those things... okay, maybe crazy. But feminists are not man-haters. I love men and have always had great relationships with men. My absolute best friends in high school were a bunch of crazy boys. All TRUE feminists want is equal opportunities and expectations (or lack of) for women AND men, for all of us.

Going back to my example: wearing a bra. Bras were originally created to provide women with support for their breasts. But now it is newsworthy if a celebrity ventures out in public without a bra. Is it such a shock that, oh my goodness, a woman has breasts? And you can SEE their natural form?! What is so obscene about breasts? When I ditch my bra I am not gallivanting about with no shirt on (which I also have no problems with, if it is in a place where men can ditch their shirts too... #freethenipple... just not my thing personally). If a person, no matter what gender, cannot go about their day without ogling my breasts, then they have the problem, not me, But we are still expected to strap our breasts down for the sake of modesty. It is the expectation that I, and most feminists, are not comfortable with. But women (and men) are still having expectations such as this forced upon them daily.

Women, give me an amen: there is nothing more comfortable than NOT wearing a bra and freeing those boobies. Men, give me an amen: imagine wearing an extra layer of stifling material strapped around your chest in the heat of the Australian summer. You get me. It's not fun.

That's... innovative.

So if you see me out and I am not wearing a bra, don't be shocked. I am a woman, I have breasts which I've nourished a child with, and I won't hide them for any one else's benefit bar my own. Except maybe my grandpa, so he doesn't have a heart attack. I'd like him to stick around for a while longer.