G-string

A G-string or thong is a narrow piece of cloth or even leather that passes between the buttocks and is attached to a band around the hips, worn as a swimwear or underwear by both men and women. The two terms, g-string and thong are often used interchangeably however, the primary difference between the two garments is that a g-string has less material around the waist band and between the buttocks hence, a string-like appearance.

Woman wearing a thong.

An example of a g-string.

Origin

The G-string or thong is probably the earliest form of clothing known to man; having originated in the warmer climates of sub-Saharan Africa where clothing was first worn nearly 75,000 years ago. Many tribal peoples, such as some of the Khoisan people of southern Africa, wore thongs for many centuries. Much like the 2000-plus-year-old Japanese fundoshi, these early garments were made with the male genitalia in mind.

Although developed for the male anatomy by primitive peoples, in the modern West thongs are more often worn by females. They first gained mainstream popularity as swimwear in South America, particularly in Brazil in the 1970s. In Brazil, where the buttocks ("bunda" in Portuguese) are especially admired and emphasized; it was originally a style of swimsuit whose rear area became so narrow that it would disappear between the wearer's buttocks.

The origin of the term "G-string" is obscure. The term is first attested in writings by Americans in the late 1800's regarding the loincloth of Philippine natives. The origin of the word "thong" is from the Old English thwong, a flexible leather cord.

Commercialisation and attitudes

Attitudes to wearing G-strings vary, as usual with revealing clothing. By the late 1980s, the design had made its way into most of the Western world, and G-string underwear became more and more popular through the 1990s. As of 2003, thong underwear is one of the fastest-selling styles among women and currently gaining popularity among men. One advantage attributed to the wearing of thong underwear is that no visible panty line can be seen even under a thin, light-colored or skin-tight garment, which makes for a more attractive appearance. Although the popularity of wearing thong underwear in America has taken off only in the last decade, in Eastern and Northern Europe it has been common for many more years, and is considered commonplace today.

A variant of the male thong concept is the jock sock, a pouch containing the penis and scrotum supported by a waistband, but lacking any strap under the crotch to the rear. This design relies on the underpart of the pouch hooking behind the scrotum to stay in place and provides little or no support to the genitals. Some strapless jocks feature a pouch with an internal fabric/elastic "c-ring" that either slides along the penis and encircles the base of the testicles or, alternately, simply snaps around the base of the testicles to snugly attach the pouch to the genitals. While this type of pouch permits the wearer to "go backless," c-ring pouches can be attached to either a thong or traditional jockstrap. C-rings enhance the apparent size of the male anatomy.

Today, there are a number of intermediate styles between full rear coverage and a string rear. They include the rio, tanga, thong, string thong and microkini. A style that has a narrow band of fabric in the rear that just covers the cleft in the buttocks is often called a "Brazilian" rear, because it is often seen at Brazilian Samba carnivals.

In recent years the hip hop and R&B music industry has also helped to promote the G-string, mostly under its American nomenclature of 'thong' by composing songs about it and featuring artists clad in them. Artists include Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Lil' Kim. One example of music that popularized this undergarment is the "Thong Song" by Sisqó, which was released in 2000. G-strings have become icons of pop culture, often with pop female artists wearing clothing that is revealing enough that their wearing of a thong is obvious, and thus the younger generation of American females following suit has increased the popularity of wearing thong underwear.

Male use of G-string underwear, in the West traditionally limited to the athlete's jockstrap and the dance belt, is currently increasing due to the popularization by male strippers and/or exotic dancers, e.g. Chippendales dancers. G-strings are very popular with male wrestlers like Hulk Hogan because they don't produce visible brief lines under their wrestling suits.

G-string underwear is not without its own controversies. In 2002 American clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, known for their racy catalogues, launched a line of G-string underwear marketed specifically at girls aged 13 to 16 years. Several consumer advocacy groups objected to marketing of the G-string, claiming they are too sexually suggestive.

Precautions Women wearing G-strings should not wear them everyday or all day, as they may cause kidney or other infection. The string part slides up and down the anus, so it may provide a route for bacteria. Also, the string breaks down the mucus and skin of the vagina.

A man wearing a traditional Japanese swimwear, the fundoshi.

In April 2002, G-string underwear was at the centre of a media uproar after a vice-principal (a woman) at Rancho Bernardo High School in southern California forced female students to lift their skirts before entering a school dance, in a so-called crackdown on G-string underwear.

In May 2003, the head teacher of a British primary school voiced her concern after learning that girl pupils as young as 10 were wearing thong underwear to school. This incident led to a media debate about the appropriateness of G-string underwear and the sexualization of children.

Many beachside municipalities in the United States have legislation forbidding G-string swimsuits in public. Virginia have attempted to pass laws forbidding the exposure of underwear. This so-called "droopy-pants" bill passed in the House but was later dropped in the Senate. These actions were prompted by both the fashion of young women exposing their G-string "whale tail" and men wearing their pants so low that the pubis was exposed.

On European beaches, wearing swimwear in G-string style is fairly common, especially on the Spanish Mediterranean islands like Ibiza (Eivissa) and Mallorca, and on some Italian and Greek beaches. Also on Baltic Sea beaches and in public pools in France and Germany, women and men wear G-strings or G-string-style one-piece suits such as slingshot thongs. While this type of swimsuit is quite common for European women, more and more men like to wear them not only as underwear but as swimwear in public. Although it is likely that this is a consequence of the more liberal society in many European states that results in a preference for revealing clothing, there has also been an increase in demand for male G-strings in the U.S. male population.

In other languages

In Lithuania the G-string is often called "stringai", or more national name "siaurikės".

In Portugal and Brazil the G-string is often referred to as fio dental which means "dental floss".

In Italy the G-string is called "perizoma" also it's often called "string" or wrongly "tanga" (in Italian language "tanga" is a micro-panties).

In French, the G-string is usually called "un string," a loanword from English.

In Puerto Rico, a Spanish slang term often used for G-string is gistro, most commonly used by Reggaeton artists to refer to the underwear style.

In Argentina and Chile, G-String is widely known as colaless, in Spanish cola means tail, thus colaless is literally tail-less.

In the Japanese language and also in Cantonese, G-string is widely known as T-back, after its shape seen from behind. The sound has been causing some confusion among Japanese speakers (especially the elderly) with a tea bag, which is also common in today's Japanese dictions. However, there are several usages of the term "T-back" in English as well (i.e., Children's literature author E.L. Konigsburg's T-backs, T-shirts, Coat and Suit).

In Czech, Finnish, German, Hungarian and Spanish the G-string is often called "tanga".

In Polish the G-string is usually called stringi, which is a pluralized loanword from English (literally: "strings").

In the Chinese language, the G-string is commonly called as dingziku (丁字裤) which literally means "t character pants." The thong has a T shape at the back, therefore it was the Chinese way of saying T-back.

See also

• Jockstrap
• Loincloth
• Girdle
• Whale tail