Tighty-whities may not be the most flattering name for underwear. But like all undergarments, the name is secondary to how they look.
That’s where the debate starts, and seemingly never ends!
The latest online squabble about the polarizing garment is happening on Reddit, where gay bros are offering their takes on the little white briefs. A poster started the tighty-whities discourse with a declarative statement about how he, as a 33-year-old “kind of chubby guy,” wears them exclusively.
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“About 4 years ago I realized i only wanted to wear tighty whities,” he writes. “I am 100% tighty whities ever since. It is a fetish for me but just wanna know other dudes who feel the same way.”
As expected, the reaction was mixed.
“Modern, white briefs are really hot on most guys. They are clean and sexy and well-fitting ones will make your crotch and a** ‘pop,’” one commenter added, before warning that “dirty and poor fitting briefs are absolutely not sexy.”
Another poster said his experience of seeing tighty-whities on “out-of-shape” dads growing up scarred him for life (he didn’t elaborate on the details, and that’s probably for the better).
“Running around as a kid I saw too many out-of-shape dads wearing stretched-out wife beaters and skid-marked, loose Fruit of the Looms,” he wrote. “They just make me think of gross old guys and farts, always farts.” (Perhaps a therapist should dig more into those feelings…)
Conversely, there are many unabashed tighty-whities fans. Admirers of the underwear say they highlight all of the proper assets.
“I’ll chime in. First, I think you look great in your tighty whities!,” somebody said. “I’m obviously biased because it’s the style I love and wear most often. They can be masculine, boyish, daddyish, sexy, embarrassing, whatever.”
Another fan concurred.
“Tighty whities are both comfortable and accentuate the hottest parts of a man,” he said.
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One could say that tighty-whities were invented for the gay eye. Back in the 1930s, an undergarment designer named Arthur Kneibler received a postcard of a friend wearing a bikini-style bathing suit in the French Riviera. The image was so enchanting, he created his own version: the first Jockey® brief.
Despite those skimpy origins, the Jockey® brief became an iconic brand of American underwear. The classic undergarment remains synonymous with those classic, masculine smells: musk, cigarette smoke, old spice deodorant. It runs the gamut!
Gays adopting from straight culture to create their own aesthetic dates back at least a century. Look no further than some of the all-time gay archetypes: daddies, leather daddies, jocks, bears.
A natural extension of the homosexual proclivity to borrow from straight culture is an infatuation with homoerotic sports garments, such as the jockstrap.
Throughout the mid-20th century, the jockstrap started appearing in erotic Tom of Finland’s drawings and softcare adult magazines. Now, they’re firmly part of mainstream gay culture. Gay-affiliated fashion brands–Andrew Christian, AussieBum, etc—and mainstream brands like Calvin Klein and Versace all have their own designs.
Speaking of Calvin Klein, their ads alone help explain why tighty-whities are held in rarified gay air. Look no further than Jeremy Pope’s latest Pride campaign.
We rest our rainbow case!
It’s hard to imagine how any gay man could dislike any of those fits, which begs the question: maybe tighty-whities just have a branding problem. When perusing the replies on Reddit, almost every tighty-whity skeptic references ill-fitting styles, dirty briefs and loose fabric.
In this case, the eye isn’t just in the beholder. It’s also in the wearer. As we know, underwear is a personality.
Every fit is unique.
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