August 15, 2023

"Historically, men’s underwear was completely out of view until sagging arrived in the 1990s. Women’s underwear, on the other hand..."

"... hasn’t been; hip-hugging pants have caused panic in the past when they exposed thongs or G-strings (sometimes called the 'whale tail' style). A boxer short can seem discreet by comparison. 'There might not be as much anxiety because it’s not as sexualized'.... In recent years, as more and more Americans abandon the idea of genitalia as an automatic marker of gender, the rigid norms around 'men’s' and 'women’s' underwear have started to blur. In response, start-ups and existing underwear brands have increased the availability of boxers designed specifically for female anatomy. (That is, without an open fly or support pouch.)...  As Emma McClendon, a professor of fashion studies at St. John’s University in Queens, noted to The Post in 2022: 'What we’re seeing are clothes that typically we would consider hyper-gendered, but they’re being played with in a way to eschew gender.'"


"Triumphant" means celebrating victory. It's funny to think of triumphant pants. Especially in this story that turns out to be mostly about underpants.

38 comments:

RideSpaceMountain said...

When the tag 'men in shorts' is met in the same post by a future tag 'women in underpants', we'll know the nation has begun healing.

Limited blogger said...

I'm all about comfortable underwear. A thong does not appear to be comfortable.

rehajm said...

as more and more Americans abandon the idea of genitalia as an automatic marker of gender

Notice the distinction as an 'American' idea. That it is...

gahrie said...

"Triumphant" means celebrating victory. It's funny to think of triumphant pants. Especially in this story that turns out to be mostly about underpants

In the UK, "pants" means "underpants", they never use the word "pants" to refer to trousers.

tim maguire said...

They are likely to find, as so many others have, that only niche companies satisfied to stay niche can succeed by catering to 2% of their customer base.

RideSpaceMountain said...

"In the UK, "pants" means "underpants", they never use the word "pants" to refer to trousers."

In the UK "fanny" doesn't mean one's butt either. British English is just as naughtily playful as French. I love it.

PM said...

Ashley's got a cool name. Sounds like a wrestling headline.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

There are just so many possibilities that come with the idea of a triumphant return of underwear, many of them at odds with each other.

robother said...

We've come a long way from "I see London, I see France..." Or maybe not, it almost seems like the whole culture's reverting to fourth grade obsessions, even while demanding that they be recast as the height of enlightened consciousness.

gilbar said...

In recent years, as more and more Americans abandon the idea of genitalia as an automatic marker of gender

first i was going to scream: "Assumes Facts.. Not in Evidence!!"
but then i realized that it was true. Look at this carefully constructed table

|Date....|# americans abandoning idea of genitalia as an automatic marker of gender
|========|======================|==================================================
|.1990...|..ZERO................|
|.2000...|..ZERO................|
|.2010...|..ZERO................|
|.2015...|..2 in whole country..|
|.2020...|..maybe 14 in country.|
|.2023...|..heck! hundreds maybe|

There you have it!! more and more Americans abandon the idea of genitalia. 10 years ago..NONE!
5 years ago.. Damn few!
NOW Not many at all, but honestly nearly as many as those that believe the world is made out of blue cheese

Old and slow said...

Always entertaining when you hear American tourists refer to their "fanny packs". My Irish friends die laughing.

Iman said...

Sloppy LCD culture.

No joke!

Old and slow said...

And never stop to ask a female hitch hiker if she'd like a ride. Not unless you really mean it.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Why not just go full Mao and have everybody wear the same uniform.

What’s that line in the movie. Never go full Mao.

Darkisland said...

Underwear
By Lawrence Ferlinghetti

I didn’t get much sleep last night
thinking about underwear
Have you ever stopped to consider
underwear in the abstract
When you really dig into it
some shocking problems are raised
Underwear is something
we all have to deal with
Everyone wears
some kind of underwear
The Pope wears underwear I hope
The Governor of Louisiana
wears underwear
I saw him on TV
He must have had tight underwear
He squirmed a lot
Underwear can really get you in a bind
You have seen the underwear ads
for men and women
so alike but so different
Women’s underwear holds things up
Men’s underwear holds things down
Underwear is one thing
men and women have in common
Underwear is all we have between us
You have seen the three-color pictures
with crotches encircled
to show the areas of extra strength
and three-way stretch
promising full freedom of action
Don’t be deceived
It’s all based on the two-party system
which doesn’t allow much freedom of choice
the way things are set up
America in its Underwear
struggles thru the night
Underwear controls everything in the end
Take foundation garments for instance
They are really fascist forms
of underground government
making people believe
something but the truth
telling you what you can or can’t do
Did you ever try to get around a girdle
Perhaps Non-Violent Action
is the only answer
Did Gandhi wear a girdle?
Did Lady Macbeth wear a girdle?
Was that why Macbeth murdered sleep?
And that spot she was always rubbing—
Was it really in her underwear?
Modern anglosaxon ladies
must have huge guilt complexes
always washing and washing and washing
Out damned spot
Underwear with spots very suspicious
Underwear with bulges very shocking
Underwear on clothesline a great flag of freedom
Someone has escaped his Underwear
May be naked somewhere
Help!
But don’t worry
Everybody’s still hung up in it
There won’t be no real revolution
And poetry still the underwear of the soul
And underwear still covering
a multitude of faults
in the geological sense—
strange sedimentary stones, inscrutable cracks!
If I were you I’d keep aside
an oversize pair of winter underwear
Do not go naked into that good night
And in the meantime
keep calm and warm and dry
No use stirring ourselves up prematurely
‘over Nothing’
Move forward with dignity
hand in vest
Don’t get emotional
And death shall have no dominion
There’s plenty of time my darling
Are we not still young and easy
Don’t shout

Meade said...

“Girl, you thought [Barack]
was a man, but he only
was a-puffin’.
No cries is heard in the
night as a result of him
stuffin’”

Iman said...

#stradachocolada

stlcdr said...

Women have been wearing men's clothing as long as I can remember, and likely all the way back through the 20th century.

It's not the norm (sic), though.

But if you change 'boxer shorts' to be better fitting to women, are they 'boxer shorts'? Or are they actually boxers, but specifically men's boxers and womens boxers. Just like mens shirts and womens shirts...noting the fact that the buttons go up the other (wrong?) side.

wild chicken said...

Who doesn't love them done of that prison chic?

n.n said...

Genitalia is a sex-correlated attribute. So is sexual orientation. Alternate configurations are transgender.

madAsHell said...

It was written by a woman, and she is old enough that no on wants her underpants..........and whatever lies beyond.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"In recent years, as more and more Americans abandon the idea of genitalia as an automatic marker of gender"

[citation needed]

Jamie said...

Without reading any other comments...

as more and more Americans abandon the idea of genitalia as an automatic marker of gender

So, from 1% to 2%? Because I very much doubt that there are many people who actually believe it.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"I'm out there Jerry, and I'm lovin' every minute of it!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRVUe2Ha6dg

Gospace said...

I worked with two young ladies who I regularly told them what color underwear they wearing after they leaned over. Which they did frequently.

There were others I wouldn't dare say anything to because of immediate charges of sexual harassment that would be brought against me. For noticing what they openly displayed.

It's a minefield out there.

And in public- there are the sheer fabric dresses where you may not be able to ascertain the color of the underwear being worn- but you can tell the type.

And, as a by the way, no civilized man ever wore pants that displayed his underwear, or lack thereof, when bending over.

Earnest Prole said...

I went looking for that famously shocking 1944 Life Magazine photo of Wellesley girls wearing slovenly dungarees but could only find oblique references to it. All things must pass.

mikee said...

Forget it, Jake. It's fashion town.

Clyde said...

This is pretty stupid. Men's and women's bodies are different (and there are only men and women, and mentally ill men and women who think they are something else), and a cut in pants or underwear that is comfortable and flattering for one sex doesn't work for the other. There is a woman I work with who likes to wear men's blue jeans, and they do nothing for her figure. And men need room for the wedding tackle, so I imagine thatpants and undies cut for women would be extremely uncomfortable for a man.

Skeptical Voter said...

Humbug re style. For older folks it's all Depends.

Al said...

Who was the female comedian who did a bit about women's underpants with a fly? "Just for those times when she is drunk enough to think she could urinate standing up." Maybe Elayne Boosler or Paula Poundstone or someone similar? Internet search doesn't return a name, but I remember the riff.

Kate said...

I've been wearing men's boxers as pajama bottoms for a very long time. The waistband must be loose in order to fit the hips, and that fly gap can be challenging. I'd love women's boxers if they're as comfortable. But they won't be, because clothing manufacturers don't seem to know any women.

The Vault Dweller said...

With partially exposed underwear being described as 'comfy chic' is that what the author honestly thinks it is or what the author hopes people will view it as?

Narr said...

Do they still wear their underwear on the outside in San Marcos?

Aught Severn said...

"In recent years, as more and more Americans abandon the idea of genitalia as an automatic marker of gender"

[stated without evidence]

MacMacConnell said...

Women's boxers are called tap pants.

rwnutjob said...

My wife refuses to wear butt-floss. She said she had spent her whole life keeping her underwear out of her ass. She wasn't going to put it there on purpose

rwnutjob said...

The saggy pants look started from black kids emulating prison where they take your belt. society is circling the drain.

GrapeApe said...

Let’s just all wear Depends and call it a day. I’m too old for tighty whitey stuff. That’s for little boys. Boxers are for grown men whether they be of the boxer brief (tighter) style or the loose style. Why anyone male or female would want a string running through their crack isn’t a question I ponder or want to answer. Wear what you want but I do not care to have something that constricts my junk or makes me feel like I have toilet paper stuck in my rear.