What Does It Mean To Be a "Nude" Bra?

Welcome to or welcome back to Fifty Shades of Nude!!

I searched on Google "what does it mean to be a nude bra," and this is the answer I got:

"A nude bra is made in a light beige color because it is the only color that won't show through a lightly colored shirt. A white bra, for example, will show through a white shirt, so of course a dark colored bra would show through a white shirt."

The whole premise of this blog is to redefine the word nude in all contexts... Imagine this (or recall this, if this is something you have personally experience): you are a young black woman looking for a nude bra to wear under a sheer outfit that you have been planning to wear for a job interview for months. You walk into target, go to the lingerie section and this is what you are faced with:

Black, white, or "nude," leaving you with the option to get the nude and risk it being visible, get the black and risk it being visible, or get a whole new outfit that won't even risk have your bra being shown. Discouraging right? This could ruin your mood for this day because something that you NEED as a woman in a functional society doesn't market or support you as an individual. This is once again... Not okay.

The definition that was shown above when I searched what it means to be a nude bra does not comply with this short narrative I described which is a very common experience of all women of color. It shows that this "definition" does not fit even closely to everyone experiences, it doesn't even fit the majority of people's experiences! The "nude" described about definitely is NOT the "only color that won't show though a light-colored shirt," in the slightest.

The word nude is a social construct based on white beauty ideals that needs to shift into a definition that doesn't marginalize a whole population of women who are just as beautiful, just as worthy, just as smart, and just as deserving as anyone else.

Think about what image pops up in your head when you think of "flesh-colored"?? Probably some shade of light, white, tan, or a beige of some sort excluding 98% of other skin tones. This definition is engraved in our minds that excludes so many people and reinforces systemic racism. So it is not just the word nude that is marginalizing people of color.. It is any ambiguous word that is socially constructed to fit the white beauty ideal of western society.

Nubia Skin (https://us.nubianskin.com/) is one lingerie company that sheds some light onto this issue with term "nude" - their slogan is ..."a different kind of nude" which expresses the construction of nude can mean many different things (this site isn't just for women also). Ade Hassan is the founder of this company and has a TEDxtalk that explains her journey.

(Note: Something that really inspired me with Ade and her story is that it all started with social media and her blog... So take this message also as some inspiration that no matter who you are... You can make a difference)