Are my nipples my greatest accessory?

If there’s anything I’ve learned in my 27 years of life, it’s that not having to wear a bra is a superpower. Or, at least I like to think so. I may have taken this for granted when I was younger and I thought that having smaller boobs made me less mature, less of an adult, and possibly less attractive. But I’ve finally embraced this feature of mine and now, a “real” bra is a distant memory.

I’ve become so accustomed to foregoing a bra that I choose to do it even in shirts some might not deem appropriate. You know the kind I’m talking about. The ones that are just slightly see-through, so, if you look closely enough, you’ll see the shade of my nipples. The first few times I wore it, I made excuses like ‘my hair is long enough’ or ‘my crossbody bag will cover them’ or ‘we live in New York City, people have seen crazier things!’ And then finally, I decided I didn’t need an excuse.

Maybe it’s because I have small boobs, but not only did I feel comfortable, I felt confident. I don’t know if things would be different if I had more to support, but my friends had nothing but words of encouragement. Some of them did the same, regardless of the size of their boobs.

Now, everywhere I look, whether it’s people on the street or ad campaigns, I pay close attention to nipples. I recently saw two campaigns that left them as is, rather than photoshop them to look more subtle or pretend that they didn’t exist. I wish I could say this was proof people were getting comfortable with women’s bodily autonomy, but Roe v. Wade was just overturned last week.

Am I confident all of the time? Absolutely not. I experienced my own inner dialogue when I wore a similar shirt to a dance class. I comfortably left my apartment after my roommate assured me I didn’t need to add a sports bra to the outfit and I told myself dancers were comfortable with their bodies. So, what better place to ditch a bra than there? But the more I sweat, the more I saw and I found myself folding my shirt up to cover as much as I could.

Did anyone say anything to me about what they could see? Of course not. So, is all this contemplation about freeing the nip even necessary?

It is if it brings me to a decision that I’m happy with. If this fashion choice is a metaphor for anything, it’s that you can do things and be nervous or insecure or scared in the process and it doesn’t make the decision to do them any less important. This is true in most cases. Whenever I’m choosing to go out of my comfort zone, I remind myself that the point isn’t to be free of nerves. But to be nervous and do something anyway is where the most growth is.