XX Factor: How the Sports Bra Changed History

Outside Podcast

Sports, Wilderness

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2017

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Among most important advances in sports technology, few can compete with the invention of the sports bra. Following the passage of Title IX in 1972, women’s interest in athletics surged. There was just one problem—actually, make that two problems: their breasts. Boob bounce hurts, as women getting in on the jogging craze found out. Then some friends in Vermont had an idea to stitch a couple jock straps together to build a contraption to keep things in place. Their creation revolutionized women’s participation in sports and launched what’s become a multi-billion-dollar industry. Today, high-tech boob labs are helping designers make ever more effective—and stylish—iterations, even for athletes with DDD cups. Outside contributing editor Florence Williams, author of Breasts, looks back at the game-changing invention, takes measure of just how far we’ve come, and points towards an even brighter, bounce-free future.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of the Outside Podcast is brought to you by REI Co-op. They want to make the
0:08.0	outdoors the largest level playing field on earth. And this summer they're kicking off more than a thousand new events and classes designed
0:16.0	just for women.
0:17.0	Like this beginner's rock climbing class.
0:19.4	That was a lot of fun.
0:22.4	That's addict lot of fun. Addicting.
0:23.0	Yeah.
0:24.0	That's Sarah Stoic.
0:27.0	She spends all her free time,
0:29.0	snowboarding, mountain biking,
0:30.0	and getting outside.
0:32.0	Or she did, until a few years ago
0:35.2	when she got into a really bad car accident
0:36.9	and injured her back.
0:38.4	I could walk, but I mean, it's,
0:40.6	I went from being completely active to no active lifestyle so I mean my whole body
0:45.4	changed my whole life changed for a couple years. Now Sarah's getting back on the
0:50.0	horse or the rock wall anyway but she has to rebuild her confidence I probably
0:56.9	wouldn't do this class with a couple of guys you know just because I'm a little
0:59.7	self-conscious you know so I have to have a whole group of women it It's like, yes, like I want to do it, I want to be there.
1:05.0	Awesome.
1:08.0	Check out REI's all women's course offerings and more at REI.com. From outside magazine and PRX, these are dispatches.
	...

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