Chapter 25: Wild Americans (Seeking Collections and Monthly Tickets)

Whether Logan wanted to witness a "lingerie war" is a matter lost to history, but he was quick to swing the first axe in his counterattack.

Richard stared at the joint statement from doctors that Logan had sent over, remaining silent for a full minute. In the Chicago area, the *Sun-Times* was, of course, Logan’s primary platform for advertising. He had even abused his position to secure a remarkably favorable rate. Richard simply hadn’t expected him to launch the campaign nationwide, creating such a massive stir. The entire country was in an uproar!

Richard didn’t know exactly how much money Logan had invested, but judging by the momentum, it certainly wasn’t a small sum. At first, he had been stunned, thinking, *You kid are really going all out just to pick up girls!* Even after seeing the Victoria’s Secret brassiere Logan had cobbled together—which he admitted looked decent enough—he still didn’t consider it a serious business venture.

That was until he saw the fuel Logan was now adding to the fire.

What Richard was reading was a statement co-signed by over a dozen medical authorities. They declared in an unquestionable tone: "The Victoria’s Secret bra is truly a gospel for women's health!"

Following this were arguments from the doctors, each from their own professional perspective, on the health benefits of the garment. Internists claimed it could "promote blood circulation in the chest and significantly reduce the risk of breast disease." Orthopedists asserted that the bra could "correct poor posture, prevent spinal curvature, and lay the foundation for a lady's health." The most flowery prose came from a neurologist, whose vision was almost dreamlike: this lightweight fabric could "bestow upon women unprecedented physical and mental freedom, greatly alleviate nervous tension, enhance focus and inner joy—it is truly a testament to the progress of social civilization."

They cited classics and brandished terminology, weaving a health halo around a small piece of lingerie so tightly and dazzlingly that one dared not look directly at it.

Richard: "..."

Right. This was classic Logan—regardless of whether he was doing something good or bad, he would always place himself on the moral high ground first.

Richard asked out of curiosity, "This... bra you’ve made, is it really as good as these doctors say?"

Logan replied with certainty, "Those are all things the doctors actually said."

*Oh, my,* Richard thought, *so the kid really did come up with something good... wait a minute, he said "the doctors said it," but he never said it was actually that good!*

Well, Richard felt that said it all. Still, he was even more curious. "I see these are all doctors of some repute. How did you get them to go along with your charade?"

That was naturally because Logan had paid them handsomely. Besides, it wasn't some ingestible medicine; it was a matter of one person saying one thing and another saying another. Why wouldn't they do it?

Of course, Logan would only say, "How is this a charade? At most, it’s a bit of rhetorical exaggeration." If he were selling actual medicine, that would be a lie. But even without considering the current era, a hundred years from now, the "truths" spoken by doctors would, in the final analysis, be nothing more than the "truths" that the capital behind them needed them to proclaim. Logan was merely borrowing their fame.

What Logan hadn't expected was that his first strike wouldn't land on the moral guardians, but on the users of the lingerie themselves.

...

New York, the Women’s Vanguard Organization.

This was a progressive group fighting for the legal rights of women across the United States. Susan, a pioneering woman, slammed the "Health Declaration" from the newspaper onto the table, her voice sharp with anger.

"This is a trap, through and through! They are using the sugar-coated pill of 'health' to re-shackle women in the chains of sexualization!"

"What is our struggle? It is to make women appear more like men, to erase those artificial differences used to please men!"

"A bra? It is nothing but another exquisite chain forged by capital and patriarchy, a softer way to constrict our ribs and our souls once more!"

Her eyes burned with the fire of an idealist's rage, as if the bra were the lingering ghost of an old-fashioned corset. "We must resolutely oppose these undergarments!"

"I disagree," Sarah, a board member of the organization, replied steadily, carrying a sense of pragmatic strength.

Susan glared. "Are you betraying the organization?"

Sarah’s gaze swept calmly over Susan’s flat chest. "Susan, isn't true liberation about letting women decide for themselves how to live comfortably?"

"This new lingerie is lightweight; it provides support rather than restriction. It can keep our sisters from having such sore backs when they stand in factories all day, and let them breathe easily."

"If even making one's own body a little more comfortable is to be denounced as 'betrayal,' then the taste of this liberation is far too bitter."

Sarah truly felt that Susan was being a bit extreme. She was duty-bound to fight for women’s rights to work alongside men in factories; she had no objections to fighting for women’s suffrage. But to demand that women cut their hair short and flatten their chests as much as possible just to look more like men? Sarah felt it was completely unnecessary.

She herself was busty and particularly detested the then-popular camisoles or small vests; they made her unable to breathe—they were literal instruments of torture! Therefore, she felt the doctors were right: the Victoria’s Secret bra seemed like a "gospel for women's health." Furthermore, she found the manufacturer of the Victoria’s Secret bra quite interesting; while their advertisements were bold, they clearly expressed that women had the right to control their own bodies. Their organization should support it.

However, Susan wouldn't listen to a word. The two had a huge argument and parted on bad terms.

The next day, Susan, filled with rage, organized an anti-bra protest. Women wore oversized men's shirts and stiff suit jackets, trying their best to erase their body curves, marching with firm steps and solemn expressions as if they were embarking on a holy war. They held up posters of the Victoria’s Secret bra advertisement with large crosses over them, chanting slogans:

"Reject the new chains of objectification!"
"Down with bras!"

Unexpectedly, Sarah organized a simultaneous pro-bra protest. At the very front of the procession was a giant, two-story-tall bra model made of pink fabric and stuffing! The massive cups looked like two moving hills, followed by a row of women wearing bras fashioned after the Victoria’s Secret design. They proudly displayed their body curves, holding up striking signs with white text on black backgrounds:

"Comfort is a right!"
"My body, my choice!"

This absurd yet visually striking parade left the protesters led by Susan, who ran into them head-on, stunned and eclipsed.

The Women’s Vanguard Organization split as a result!

New York exploded that day! According to statistics, over thirty men in New York crashed into lampposts that day while staring at the bras. A couple visiting New York from Europe saw this scene, their mouths agape in an "O" shape.

"Are the women of this New World always this wild?"
"But... what are they wearing?"