Demand for padded bras, artificial bums rises

According to an investigation by Punch, Push-up bras have long found their way into women’s fashion while bum enhancers are getting popular more and more everyday.

Basically, the push-up bra –as the name suggests – is padded in such a way that it thrusts the breasts forward and make them appear rounder and fuller. 

 Similarly, bum enhancers are padded gears worn like panties or ‘bum shorts’. 

They give a woman noticeable curves in the hip and bum areas. And like the push-up bra, a bum enhancer will most times ensure the wearer gets the attention of men, even if she is not that naturally endowed.

For instance, a female banker, who identified herself as Kemi, said she is the “number one fan of push-up bras”, saying she never steps out of her home without having them on. However, Kemi feared that she had gotten addicted to the use of the fashion gear.

 She said, “The truth is that I don’t like how I (my breasts) look without the push-up bras. I’m addicted to them to the extent that I don’t feel okay wearing the normal ones again. Even when I’m wearing a camisole under a jacket, I don’t feel alright without a push-up bra.

 “It makes me feel more confident and when I feel confident, I tend to work better. I actually tried a few times to stop and go back to using normal bras, but it’s been difficult because I don’t like the way I look in them. It’s like I always get positive attention when I wear push-up bras.”

 Popularly called bum-bum or yodi at Lagos open markets, bum enhancer is relatively new in the market when compared to the push-up bra.

Ms. Titi Babatunde, who sells women’s underwear at Oshodi Market, Lagos, said she sold at least 24 bum enhancers a week.

 Babatunde explained that the N1,200 price tag on the Chinese-made bum enhancers on display at her stall, was as a result of a drastic reduction in its price a few years ago. It used to go for N3,000. Investigation, however, shows that the more expensive European or North-American designed bum enhancers cost N4,000 and above in stores across Lagos.

 She said, “Even when it was N3,000 women used to rush it. There is no day I don’t sell yodi and push-up bra. I sell up to two dozens of yodi and 10 dozens of push-up bras in a week. Both students and workers, young and old patronise us.”

 A buyer, who identified herself as Janet, said that she loved wearing bum enhancers because they helped in making her more attractive.

Like Kemi, Janet’s confidence level seems to be tied to her use of bum enhancers.

She said, “The bum enhancers give me what I lack naturally. Honestly, I used to feel bad that my friends were getting more attention from guys. But now, I have a boyfriend too. But it’s not something women like to announce to everyone. Most women like to keep it as a secret.”

Asked if her boyfriend is pleased with her real shape, she said, “I wear jeans (jean trousers) most times and he hasn’t seen me in anything else. I don’t know yet if he will notice later or not, but when we get to that bridge, we will cross it.”

At Oke-Arin Market on the Lagos Island, Mr. Laide Adedeji, who also sells 

 women underwear, including push-up bras and bum enhancers, said his female customers included women of 60 years and above. 

He blamed the society, particularly men, for putting pressure on women to have specific figures.

He said, “That is why you find women of 18 years and above coming to buy all these push-up bras and bum enhancers to live up to the expectations of the society. Some women have small breasts, but they feel bad because you hear men joking that there will be nothing to play with.

 “The same thing applies to bums too; those that don’t have hips or bums that men like don’t feel good about it. I get customers as old as 60 years asking for push-up bras and bum enhancers. They say the enhancers push their tummies inside and make Iro and buba (native attire) fit them better.”

A cross section of men, who spoke to interviewed on the issue, questioned the social and moral justification of women wearing body gears that create an illusion of a supposed finer figure.

They said they were tired of seeing women who appeared well endowed and beautiful only for them to be disappointed at the end of the day after finding out that the breasts and the bums weren’t as big as they had thought.

Mr. Femi Mohammed, a geo-scientist, described the use of fashion gears like bum enhancer and the push-up bra by women as ‘unfair’.

“It is cheating because it is plain deception. Men don’t use fake body parts to attract women, so women have no reason to resort to deception to look beautiful. It may be true that men like women that have good shapes, but what’s the use if the beautiful women are just artificial?” he asked.

Mohammed added that he could never marry a woman addicted to such fashion gears.

Also, Mr. Muyiwa Babafemi recalled trying to get the attention of a beautiful busty lady for three months before he finally succeeded.

Babafemi, however, said he felt disappointed when he saw a ‘completely different person’ during his first intimate moment with the woman.

He said, “She went to the bathroom and when she came out, she did not have the features I thought she had. Initially, I thought she had big boobs, but when she came out, everything had become flat. I was really disappointed.

“I had to advise her to stop the deception; even if she would enhance her looks, it doesn’t have to be so much that it will be so obvious. Any man would be disappointed, especially, if he was attracted to the lady in the first place because of her breasts.”

But Babatunde, who claimed to be defending the rights of women to “continue to look good,” said there was nothing wrong with women’s over-reliance on bum enhancers and push-up bras. She said that since women give birth, it then gives them a tenable excuse to improve their appearance, artificially or not.

 Babatunde, who also wears bum enhancers and push-up bras said, “Once a woman gives birth, her body can never be the same. So women need secret things like that to continue to look good, even when they are out of shape. It’s called ‘packaging’.”

 Also, Mrs. Mosunmola Awolola of Damscare Ventures, Ikeja, Lagos, who sells female underwear, advised women to be cautious in their use of fashion gears that create wrong impressions.

 Awolola said she always warned her customers of the danger of getting addicted to these shape enhancers.

She said, “Although, they have advantages since they don’t have side effects like drugs, there are disadvantages too. The major disadvantage is that many women get addicted to using them.

 A man may not know when a lady is wearing it but those of us selling them know when someone is using them. The trick is that when the shape of a lady’s bum or breasts appears too good to be true,it has probably been enhanced,” she said.

Hmmm,... Society and expectation. Ladies even go to the extent of wearing double bras. oh yea....2 bras at a time.
Would you use a push up bra or yodi? Some guys really dont mind. Do you?