Nancy Kates’s large underwire bra set off the metal detector in the Oakland, California airport. A TSA agent pulled her aside and patted her down, which set off Kates’ personal privacy alarm. “I said, ‘You can’t do that.’ She said, ‘We have to pat you down.’ I said, ‘You can’t treat me as a criminal for wearing a bra.’” Kates was given the option to “submit to a pat-down in a private room” or not fly. Instead, she took off her bra and passed through security just fine. Hooray for personal freedom!
Try to read the first sentence below and not turn “wanded” into a euphemism, we dare ya.
Kates said that although she flies about once a month, the only other time her bra has set off alarms in an airport was while she was being “wanded” in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. When she explained to the security agent that the wand was picking up the metal in her bra, she said, that was the end of the matter and she was allowed to go on her way.
The TSA says they have to check for bombs:
TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said Monday that he wasn’t familiar with the incident. But he said in all circumstances, “we have to resolve an alarm.”
That’s the case for bras, artificial hips or anything with metal that sets off an alarm, he said. “Unfortunately, we can’t take a passenger’s word for it.”
If you’re a large-breasted woman, when you reach the TSA checkpoint you might want to yank your bra off and toss it in a tray. Not because TSA is demanding it, but because we’d just love to see that start happening a lot.
“Delayed by her bra, air passenger is indignant” [SFGate] (Thanks to Scott!)
(Photo: Getty)
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Honestly, I’m struggling to see why the TSA needs to take things this far to begin with. Look at the history of airline security up until 9/11 – everyone was instructed to comply and ‘roll over’ whenever there was a hijack situation on an airplane.
I can tell you that the general consensus of the flying public now is a little more cowboy and any goofball foolish enough to pull out a weapon on a plane is surely going to get leveled…and might not make it off that plane alive.
Concerned about a bomb? Xray and a wand will surely reduce the chances of a bomb big enough to completely cripple a plane would not make it through. Just a few weeks ago there was a plane that had a bigass hole blown out of the side and it was able to land safely. (it was not a bomb, but that hole was huge!)
So why all the security theatre you ask? Control. Plain and simple. I view flying as un-American now – the citizens have no rights, and I will have no part of it. I travel for work, and absolutely refuse to board a plane if I can get there in less than 12 hours by car.
To be perfectly frank, I would rather die in a fiery plane crash with a security check that left me some dignity and my rights intact rather than giving up everything we Americans are supposed to be guaranteed by the Constitution and counting on a half-assed government agency to provide the ‘sense’ of security that amounts to harassment and embarrassment.
I’m so tired of being ruled by fear…
I failed not thinking about the euphemism.
The TSA could have been more sensitive. However, they are right in saying that they have to check every alarm and not take a passenger’s word for it. What’s the point of having a security checkpoint if they’re going to take everyone’s word as to why they are setting of an alarm?
Apparently, this is something that has happened to several women. I’m not saying people should feel violated going through security, but maybe we should learn from their experiences and not wear underwire bras when flying. Or expect that we will be searched if we set off the alarm. It may not be the fairest solution to all, but would you rather have security err on the side of being lax?
@blah,blah,blah: But it isn’t a “either we don’t pat them down or they feel violated” situation. It’s a “the TSA needs to stop hiring pervs” situation. It is possible to pat someone down without groping them.
I’ve had my underwire bra set off the detectors before — it only happened once, but it did happen. In that case, they wanded me, and the wand made it pretty freakin’ clear that this was an underwire issue. I think I got a very light patdown and was allowed to go. This struck me as reasonable enough (if a little embarrassing). I don’t see a problem with asking a woman to get the patdown from a female agent, but I also can see that this should suffice for the TSA. I have a lot of cleavage, but I can’t really hide an explosive device in there.
I’ve gotten the pat-down two or three times; each time it was because of my underwires. But I’m not going to wear an insufficient bra just to avoid the hassle. My clothes fit a lot better when I wear the right bra, and since I often have to go to meetings right from the airport, that’s a big deal. And being able to wear the bra I want keeps the process that much more human.
Getting wanded adds only 5-10 minutes to my security time, and it happens maybe 5% of the time. I’ll take that chance.
Incidentally, each time I got wanded, the (female) TSA agent seemed more embarrassed about it than I did. I didn’t know any of the people at the gate, so what did I care that I was getting felt up? Believe me, large breasts can get you into plenty more embarrassing situations than that.
so, isn’t this an argument for those air-blowing security things, instead of the metal detectors?
There’s no way it was the bra, I always wear and underwire and have never had any issues getting through. Are you sure you didn’t have a knife tucked in there?
Note to Skeletor and Homeland Security: A MAJOR HURRICANE IS APPROACHING THE GULF COAST.
You might want to, you know, do something about it.
So no pictures? Darn!
Though Consumerist has to say SFW I suppose.
My wife was recently padded down in Toronto and though it was annoying to me at least, My wife didn’t seem to mind, she claimed that compared to Italian Customs this was nothing. Apparently when she took a tour around Europe she got a frisky Italian
and yes my wife sets off those stupid alarms for the Airports with her under wire.
I told her not to wear one. but honestly what is a bigger chested woman suppose to do?
I should have been a woman, a lesbian, a pervert and a TSA agent.
Can’t believe she fell for it.
I’m surprised that TSA didn’t ask to numb her breasts.
NUM NUM NUM NUM
Oh and BTW this isnt a feminist issue, think about the guys with the prince albert~!
amirite?
Whenever TSA pats me down, I say “Was it as good for you as it was for me?” The last time I did that, the TSA lady laughed and said that I made her day. And I hope I had to take off my bra some day…maybe I can get some tips!
yeah but guys with a prince albert did it to themselves. My C cups are natural and I have no choice with my underwear. Its either wear a good bra now or play soccer with the twins when I’m 40.
I traveled a month after 9/11, when the hysteria was sort of at a peak. Pre-TSA. My bra set off all their alarms. I was forced to have a ‘patdown’ (which consisted of the security goon feeling me up under my breasts) with no privacy. Screw them.
I know im a little late to the party but i was returning from a trip to Atlanta and had to go through security again at my plane change in Phoenix (hate their setup) and forgot to take off my belt got flagged and had to have a patdown they left out my junk in that but it was quite embarrassing, it helped lighten the situation that they offered a private screening (declined cause i was afraid of missing my flight) and i had another male doing the search, I cant imagine what it would be for you women to go through cause of underwires. My heart goes out to you.
Being a frequent flier, I have seriously considered showing up at the airport in my bathrobe and slippers. But I have a feeling I’d still wind up detained for some reason….
Also, those detectors are not all they’re cracked up to be. For example, I never remove my (usually large and heavy) metal belt buckle. I just casually put my hand on top of the buckle as I walk through, the machine does not beep and I am on my way….
If you’re a large-breasted woman, when you reach the TSA checkpoint you might want to yank your bra off and toss it in a tray. Not because TSA is demanding it, but because we’d just love to see that start happening a lot.
Come on Consumerist, don’t you have an editor who screens the content before they get posted just for comments like this? No wonder there’s been a flame war. Belt buckles are not covered by shirts, unlike bras, nor are they a necessary part of clothing that bras are for women. You can take off a belt and not be undressed in order to reach it. You have to in order to take off a bra – most of the time. Mrs. No49 knows how to take her bra off without taking her shirt off.
Mrs. No49 is very large breasted and continuously breaks underwire bras. She’s been ranting about going to an airport in gaeta (japanese flip flops) and wearing no metal anywhere on her just in case, including her wedding band!
Then again, we prefer driving. No need to be wanded then.
+ Watch video
What if her large melons were plastic explosives? Damn, if I worked for TSA I would cop a feel whenever I could (come over here honey, I have to see what you are packing.)
The TSA can set the sensitivity of the walk through units.
I have seen this because of where I live (BNA- Nashville) there are about 5,000 to 8,000 Kurds living here- most of who fled Saddams death rule after Gulf War I. TSA jacks it up in BNA more often because of this. I got caught with a metal cross pen on shirt one time but at my return flight airport (to be unnamed) I didn’t set off the alarm with the same pen.
Just recently my belt failed to set off the alarm in BNA when I was flying during a heavy travel period. Same belt set off alarm in return flight airport. Kind of told me they set the alarm higher to get all the nimrods who don’t travel alot through easier…
@econobiker: “Kind of told me they set the alarm higher to get all the nimrods who don’t travel alot through easier…”
That’s the part that is the most worrysome to me. I don’t think the most effective terrorists tend to also be frequent flyers…but hey, whadda I know? I’m neither a terrorist nor a frequent flyer…
Chris’s last sentence was ambiguous and certainly could be taken with a sexist slant. Probably I’ve been spending too much time on gamer forums, but when someone says “we’d love to see that start happening a lot,” it’s usually accompanied by “screenshots plz,” and “LOLZ boobies” etc. Brevity might be the soul of wit, but clarity wouldn’t be taken amiss either.
The upshot of all this is that we will all be humiliated — male, female, and trans — when the TSA develops a machine that can see through our clothes and proceeds to implement it in US airports … oh, wait, that already happened (see consumerist article of 11th June 2008). We all need to stand up and say, there’s a line that can’t be crossed here. Today it’s a bra, tomorrow they’re accidentally “losing” thousands of pictures of people’s genitals visible through their clothes. If you’re smugly thinking it hasn’t happened to you yet — or it never will — just wait a few years and you too can experience the humiliation you thought could only happen to others. I guess with some folks, compassion can only be taught by force. I await that day breathlessly.
Oh I’d love to see a metal detector go off because it picks up my piercing, except then you would see an article on consumerist about a guy being arrested for exposing himself to a TSA agent.
Finally a positive result from government oppression! Women look hot bra-less.
I’m sure this type of situation is even more embarrassing for men in bras.
Seriously though, the metal detectors have been around for 40 years, how stupid do you need to be to get mad when you are called out for breaking the rules?
If you are so easily embarrassed then you shouldn’t be wearing a bra with an underwire.
@james: Since when is wearing a bra with underwire breaking any rules?
@Tiber: Oh dear. If you live in the land of hardly any boobies like me, you WANT that non-sports bra on! Plus, a sports bra is hardly flattering and I’d hate to have to keep a bra in my purse just to appease the TSA gods.
@PinkBox: So it’s worth the risk of being fondled in public just because a sports bra isn’t as flattering? With the level of inconvenience the TSA is known for, I’d think that would be a relatively minor sacrifice. Well, it’s your choice, but that seems like an odd set of priorities to me.
You’d only be wearing it through the line for the metal detector, then you could switch it back. Also, if you had another carry-on, you wouldn’t need to keep it in your purse.
@Tiber: You don’t realize how silly it sounds to have to wear a sports bra for something that takes three seconds? If they think I’m sporting metal, let them wave their little wand at me, or let me flash the public. No need for the hands-on groping of my boobs.
@LostAngeles: I’m guessing if you’re a heavier set woman with large breasts, it isn’t as easy. I’m tiny, but can have trouble doing that if I’m wearing a long sleeved shirt.
@katylostherart: My best friend has enormous breasts, and she can tell a definite difference when she has a bra on, and when she doesn’t. She wears a bra even to bed for this very reason.
Sports bras aren’t especially comfortable for big boobs either though. The squash factor is pretty damn high and it’s like a minor version of a perpetual mammogram. With a special added bonus of insane uni-boob and swamp-tit. Whee.
@james: with all do respect (which isn’t much), until you have to wear a bra for the majority of your waking hours, your expert opinion sounds like a wet fart. Yeah, metal detectors have been around for years. So have underwire bras.
@Ms. Pants: Ew… uni-boob, and god forbid it gets cold.
Yup, underwire bras have been around forever, and they’re not limited to the larger boobs. The bra I’m wearing now is wired. I think all of mine are.
I’m a guy, so think what you will, but I just might have a crazy idea. If you’re bringing luggage, why not bring a bra that will get you through the detector, and you can switch between that and the underwire bra in the bathroom? Sure, you may have never needed to do this, but if it will guarantee no pat-down, why not?
I do agree though, that this is getting ridiculous. The sad thing is, people have the right to feel safe on airports, but any smart would-be terrorist could probably do just as much damage targeting something on the ground without the risk of having to go through something like the TSA.
@Tiber: And hope they haven’t moved to those tiny little bathroom stalls that don’t give you room to change. And hope that you don’t get delayed long enough to leave you without enough time to change back. And have the extra bit of cloth taking up some space in your bag.
As for your comment about risking humiliation vs. simply not looking your best – it’s more like: Risk humiliation in front of complete strangers, or risk being uncomfortable (and looking it, in addition to looking less than your best) in front of the very people you’re flying to meet? I’ll risk the humiliation, thanks – but that doesn’t mean I won’t get upset that the TSA has a ridiculous setting for their machines – I get in and out of the federal building and courthouse all the time, without my bra setting off the machines.
we could also probably ask the amish and menonites.
Maybe because I’m only a B-cup, but there’s an old trick to getting your bra off without taking off your shirt. Simply unhook the back, reach up one sleeve, pull the strap off your arm, reach up the other sleeve and pull the bra out.
I was dearly hoping she pulled that trick, but alas.
I’d skip the bras myself, except for the fact I have large nipples and apparently, nipples are offensive, so it’s a padded bra for me.
Not for the over-sensitive or easily offended…
“>TSA Gangstaz
Funny, so, if you have to wear a bra with enough metal in it to set off the alarm, you take it off in line in front of everyone. Then the police arrest you for indicent exposure. So, you only have one choice, don’t wear it.
I too think some are more sensitive than others, ‘sometimes’ I have to take my belt off for the buckle, its a small dress pants kind of buckle, not a texas sized medallion, ha.
I got through two screenings with a screwdriver in my bag and got caught on the third (at Heathrow). Full story: http://westadventures.blogspot.com/2009/07/caught.html