Dead to Me: See-through Shirts

What is the purpose of a see-through shirt, really? And why would I pay such prices for things that have to be worn with other things? I'm on the banana republic website, trying to figure out if the shirt is made of the same material that is usually see-through. And then when I reluctantly buy the shirt, I stand in front of a mirror with all the lights on. Is it see-through? No? But sorta? Why sorta? Wtf?

And so maybe I was late to the party, but the BR website does provide an indicator of when a shirt is or isn't. The least see-through is called 'opaque' and the most is called 'complete waste of your money since you have to wear something under it always'. So I'm buying opaque, when necessary. And I'm still standing in front of the mirror with all the lights on thinking 'oh great, you can see my bra!'. But you can't really. But maybe you can.

My mother has no idea why girls my age care about seeing the bra. She says 'at least you're wearing a bra!'. What does that have to do with it? Ugh, so it's my pet peeve. See-through shirts. Why? What's the purpose? I don't like camisoles.