Scheduled in the middle of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October 13, Tuesday was chosen as National No Bra Day, which resulted in the viral hasthtag #NoBraDay and braless photos showing up on social networks including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. One post argued that the red letter day should focus on making breasts free by ditching the lingerie and then sporting a white t-shirt.
National No Bra Day began in 2011, according to ABC 7 News. Since then it has become a yearly social media campaign.
The goal of the No Bra Day is to raise awareness of breast cancer and promote research for a cure. In theory it has the same symbolism of the pink ribbon.
Even celebrities are enjoying the semi-holiday. For example, TMZ posted a photo of Selena Gomez minus an underwear top, in New York City.
However, critics argue that the day has nothing to do with the fight against breast cancer. They argue that National No Bra Day has given media outlets such as social networks and TV stations an excuse to share cleavage photos with risqué captions.
In addition, merchandisers such as Save the Ta-tas have an opportunity to earn revenue selling t-shirts, bumper stickers, and buttons with a "boobs-are-sexy"-type message such as "Save a life! Grope your wife!" according to Slate.
Critics of the anti-brassiere day argue that encouraging women to show off their bare chests does nothing in the battle against breast cancer, and fails to focus on the cancer patients and survivors themselves. It spotlights their bosoms instead.
The American Cancer Society projects that over 231,000 women and men will get a breast cancer diagnosis by the end of this year. About 1 in 8 American women will develop the disease during their lifetimes.