By Lawal Adenike
Every October 13, women across the globe celebrate No Bra Day — a day set aside to create awareness of breast cancer, promote self-examination and early detection.
Here are ten things you should know about the celebration.
1. No Bra Day is an annual celebration that encourages women to go braless as a means of promoting breast cancer awareness.
2. It was spun off a medical event in Toronto, Canada that encourages breast cancer survivors to consider reconstructive surgery.
3. The event, named Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day (BRA), was first held on October 19, 2011.
4. The first No Bra Day event was created by an anonymous internet user identified as Anastasia Doughnuts in July 2011, who published the first website to promote it.
5. In 2013 and 2014, social media posts announced both July 9 and October 13 as No Bra Day. Since 2015, the latter has been promoted as the main date.
6. In 2012, about 400,000 individuals widely took part in No Bra Day, with about 250,000 on Facebook.
7. No Bra Day was observed by women in countries like New Zealand, Malaysia, India, Ghana, Scotland and Groningen in 2017.
8. The observation includes a social media challenge which involves women taking off their bras and post photos using the hashtag #nobraday.
9. No Bra Day is not recognized by any cancer research organization, and it is not a formal part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
10. In the eyes of some, the celebration is controversial as they see it as sexualizing and exploiting women’s body while at the same time belittling a serious disease.
