this is mostly directed towards rcastanon, who i'm going to guess is either be a man, or a woman who doesn't work out regularly enough to care about proper workout gear.

not only should the needs of female athletes be taken seriously, but all women should take fitness seriously. Working out can ease the symptoms of depression and prevent breast cancer, as well as lowering cholesterol and blood pressure etc etc. there IS an obesity epidemic in this country, and that too should be taken seriously.

yes, it's tempting to act dismissively and derisively about the fact that women have boobies and they bounce when we move, but having an unsupportive bra can make working out extremely uncomfortable. i wonder, actually, if the female soldiers in iraq are issued proper bras.

and for you ladies who enjoy working out but have yet to find a supportive bra: try nike. i've always had good luck with them.

doppelganger, are you kidding?

if you'd read the article closely, you'd note that the researchers said that ALL women's breasts bounce when they work out, regardless of the size, and that large breasts bounce no more than small breasts. so there's that.

as for the directive that women should find some other form of physical activity wherein their breasts DON'T bounce: this would rule out many traditionally female sports such as cheerleading, dance, more vigorous forms of yoga, step classes, gymnastics, tennis, and badminton.

it would also rule out running, pole vaulting,martial arts, triathlons, mountain biking, calisthenics, some forms of powerlifting, soccer, basketball, hockey, lacrosse, parkour, badminton, volleyball, and raquetball.

i guess we'd still be able to swim, row, lift weights, and do spin class though. wowee.

and, last:

there is plenty of demand for women's sports bras. According to Runner's World magazine, as of 2006, 40% of Americans that identify themselves as "runners" are women, as are 30% of triathlets. 36% of the athletes at UC schools are currently women, and because of title IX, roughly 50% of the high school athletes in california are women.

i saw pictures of what the two young women were wearing. Their skirts were a little shorter than what i would personally have felt comfortable in, but they were wearing nothing particularly scandalous. the problem was that they are both very attractive women.

I find the claim that their clothing was in appropriate to be both baffling, and offensive.

it's baffling because there are pictures of women in bathing suits in the in-flight catalogues, and women in their underwear in many of the magazines sold in airports and even provided for free on some flights. The movies and television shows that i've seen on southwest don't exactly show women dressed in pilgri outfits or burkas, either. It's also somewhat bizarre that women can breast feed, but they can't wear a short skirt. even more annoying is that my muslim friends who dress in hijabs and long skirts are singled out in the security line, and given dirty looks by their fellow passengers.

well, next time i fly, i'll make sure i am not wearing a t-shirt that says anything on it in arabic, carrying a koran, wearing a hijab, wearing a short skirt, or carrying any liquids. LAME.

i used to be in sales, and one of the first things they thought me to recognize was a "smokescreen objection". this is an objection someone raises because he or she is afraid to voice his or her actual concern. Sometimes it's because the person is uncomfortable and wants to make the situation go away by stating this smokescreen objection, sometimes the real reason is too painful to discuss, or sometimes, honestly, the person has no idea why he or she doesn't want something. he just knows he doesn't want it.

with your boyfriend, i suspect that the problem is a combination of 1) not really knowing why he doesn't want to get them fixed and 2) maybe having a vague idea, but being too scared to say it.

teeth are tied to social class, and maybe he feels like getting a set of new teeth will change his identity and his ability to identify with whatever social class he comes from.

whatever the issue is, it is reasonable for you want to leave him over this. it is an indicator of many other things that may be concerning you: his stubborness, his unwillingness to compromise, an unwillingness to think about the future, a disinterest in caring for his health.

and as for the dentist being scary and painful, boo hoo. plenty of life's challenges and day to day events are scary and painful. getting through them is part of being an adult.

if you

this year, a friend of mine told me she was going to be a sexy nurse for halloween. i was immediately irritated. is this where we are? in 2007? i have managed to accept that every woman will want to be a sexy _____ for halloween. but why a sexy nurse or a sexy princess or a sexy dorothy gale? why not a sexy doctor or a sexy brain surgeon or a sexy president of the US or a sexy CEO?

as of late, there seems to be a trend wherein women are attempting to take control of their own objectification by being complicit in it, giving themselves and others the impression that they are in charge of their own sexuality, and their place in the world as sexual objects. this i disagree with, but can understand and accept. this is what leads to the "sexy" part of the "sexy ____" costumes. it's the nature of the narrow gender stereotyping of the ____, i think, that is especially telling of who we are and where we are as american women.