As temperatures in London climb back to 35°C this week, lido slots sell out faster than Ariana Grande tickets, and everyone is suffering from swampy armpits and damp foreheads. But one heatwave plight disproportionately affects women: boob sweat. Columnist Charlie Sawyer argues that while men's sweat is often seen as a sign of strength and sexiness, women's perspiration is shamed and hidden, rooted in sexist double standards.
The burden of boob sweat
Dealing with perspiring breasts during summer is a burden many women bear. On TikTok, boob sweat is often dubbed 'gross' or classed as something to 'fix' or 'combat'. Content creators share tips to avoid it altogether, like applying deodorant or baby powder. From a young age, girls learn to stuff tissues under their boobs and choose outfits strategically; Sawyer admits she avoids the color blue in summertime due to the threat of damp patches.
Double standards in sweat perception
While nobody wants to be noticeably sweaty in public, there is a disparity in how a perspiring woman is viewed versus a man. Products like 'Ta-Ta Towels' and 'Dress Shields' remind women that concealing sweat should be a priority. In 2024, former Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts was 'sweat-shamed' for visible pit stains on a red carpet, later appearing on Good Morning Britain to encourage others to 'own it'.
In pop culture, when a woman sweats it's because she's flustered or horrified—think Miranda in her eponymous sitcom or the movie Wild Child with its 'Sweaty Upper Lip Alert'. Meanwhile, a single shot of Jeremy Allen White sporting a sweaty brow makes the internet go feral. Sweat has long been used to imply a man is strong, powerful, and sexy, from the Diet Coke man to Rocky training montages.
Activists speak out
Activist Gina Martin, who successfully campaigned to make upskirting illegal in England and Wales in 2019, explains to Metro that women's 'physical existence and expression has always been shaped by gendered expectations.' She says, 'As a practitioner and facilitator I’ve run hundreds of gender stereotype workshops in high schools where girls constantly bemoan the ladylike expectations put on them from how they look, speak, act, sit, move and express. They note how the cis het male body can exist more physically freely.'
Girls have given examples including how boys are comfortable with bodily functions in public, don't feel the need to lower their voices, can manspread, and spit or sneeze without judgment—and how sweat is seen as a sign of grit on boys but not them. While young boys are applauded for strength and masculinity, girls are fed a narrative that frames sweat as embarrassing, unhygienic, or unfeminine.
Pressure to conform
Wanting to hide sweat stains is a feeling millions of women relate to. A 2021 YouGov survey found that 71% of Britons agreed that women face more pressure than men to look a certain way, with women in their 20s and 30s feeling most pressured. Martin adds that 'women’s bathroom cupboards are filled with products that aim to “solve” every conceivable human part of us that doesn’t quite fit those Eurocentric expectations of femininity.'
Is being gross a feminist act?
Recently, a culture podcast argued that 'being gross' is inherently a feminist act, encouraging women to 'stop performing for standards set by men and the male gaze.' The hosts emphasized the importance of normalizing 'body realism,' including acknowledging sweat without shame. However, Sawyer clarifies that letting boob sweat cascade freely isn't required to be a feminist; rather, it's about existing without constant scrutiny.
Martin concludes: 'I don’t want the freedom to fart on a train—that’s gross. And I don’t need to manspread to be comfortable. But I sure as hell would like to see the double standards shift so that we can exist more freely, whatever that means for each of us.'
