Like a lot of women recently, I am jumping off the bra train, especially the underwire one. I still have sports bras and bralettes for when I absolutely need to keep the girls in line, but most of the time, I prefer to go braless.

I have settled all of my qualms about going braless for casual settings, like going to class, walking to the grocery store, and even grabbing dinner with friends. Sure, I get some dirty looks, or, worse, suggestive ones, but I feel comfortable in my body and feel I have the right to wear my boobs as I’d like.

I recently made a grand addition to my wardrobe: professional attire. This means dress pants, dresses, skirts, blouses, and flats. However, during this shopping spree of professionality, I wasn’t sure what to do about my underwear, and whether it should be added to as well.

It’s not as if I’m trying to hide the fact I’m a college student, I just understand that dressing in a certain way makes an impression on people. I want my impression to say “professional, unique, and responsible,” but I’m worried my choice in undergarments, or lack thereof, will skew my image.

This isn’t an unfounded fear either. Comments I get range from “If you were a smaller size it’d be ok,” or, “it makes people uncomfortable,” and sometimes even “What are you trying to say about yourself?” To these I say: Why should the size of my breasts matter? They’re still breasts! And honestly, when I was in early adolescence and the girls were little, it was much more comfortable to wear a bra then. As far as making someone uncomfortable: I am uncomfortable when I wear a bra, and frankly, I have to deal with my breasts far more often than anyone else does.

People have made comments about how not wearing a bra is more “sexually suggestive.” Please tell that to Victoria Secret then, because they are really not marketing their lingerie correctly. Honestly though? The push-up bras I used to own were sexier than my girls hanging loose in a cotton shirt. Breasts are not a sexual suggestion, they’re a body part, a covered one in most cases, I might add.

It’s also often assumed that I’m going braless for a political statement, and while political statements are not out of my realm, I’m honestly going braless for comfort. For me, bras are uncomfortable, restricting, and they hurt my back and shoulders. I don’t wear bras, much like I don’t wear make-up. It’s a pain, it’s unnecessary, and I don’t want to deal with it when I’m out of the house for 12+ hours a day.

I want to be clear: I’m not advocating for all women to go braless, but rather, to make it acceptable to be braless in professional workplaces. I’m not wearing a low-cut blouse, you can’t see my nipples, there is nothing showing more than there would be with a bra… my breasts just move a bit more.

I want need this to be normalized, so when I finally enter my full-time career, I’ll feel comfortable socially and physically when I go braless. I don’t want to worry about unfair judgement due to my choice in undergarments. I want to be taken seriously, as my work and experience should offer, and I don’t want to lose credibility because I would rather not be tugging and pulling at a bra all day.