I have a life-changing confession to make. I am 25 years old and I still wear briefs. Not briefs as in boxer-briefs, but briefs as in the classic underwear style sometimes referred to as tighty whities.
I wear briefs because they offer support during physical activities. While most of society considers underwear preference to be a personal choice, some people who still have a stigma against the traditional underwear style single them out for ridicule.
In the United States, briefs are stigmatized by negative stereotypes and connotations. In the media, briefs are often depicted as the underwear choice of nerdy or unpopular characters. Many people grow up watching these shows and movies and associate briefs with childhood and bullying.
I asked my friend what he thinks about guys who wear briefs, and he said that no matter what color they are, briefs are tighty whities, and tighty whities make you look like your mom still buys your underwear.
In the show Breaking Bad, Walter White famously wears white briefs. In a 2010 interview with Vulture magazine, Bryan Cranston told Breaking Bad fans that Walter White’s underwear is a reflection of the fact that he doesn’t care anymore, reinforcing the stigma that briefs are unfashionable.
The stereotypes about briefs cannot all be true because they contradict each other. Briefs are considered both for old people and for children. Briefs are considered both gay and traditional. Briefs are for nerdy, unathletic characters but sometimes they are worn by arrogant jocks too.
The truth is that people who stigmatize briefs are childish, not people who wear them. What’s more immature than making fun of someone’s underwear? If you don’t have the empathy to respect people’s choices about their comfort, you have a lot of growing up to do.
It would be immature to let society decide what underwear you wear. Wearing briefs is a mature decision that reflects good self-esteem. It is not a sign of immaturity.
In the 1990s, briefs (or “jockey shorts” as they were called then) were the most popular underwear style, and all of the negative connotations society gives to briefs were given to boxers. Boxers were for nerds. In Seinfeld, George Costanza has a flashback to a time in high school when he was bullied by the jocks. The jocks were wearing briefs whereas George was wearing boxers.
In the 2000s, cultural perceptions began to shift and boxers became the cool, casual underwear choice instead of briefs. Young people turned against briefs, which were nicknamed “tighty whities”. When they turned on their televisions to watch Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon, they saw people who wear briefs being bullied by their peers. The tighty whities stigma kept many young people from wearing briefs. They instead looked to rappers and punk singers for fashion inspiration, adopting boxers so they could sag like the artists they looked up to.
2000s culture was also quite homophobic, and the era’s casual homophobia contributed to the stigma that briefs style underwear are undesirable because they are gay. Unlike boxers, briefs do not have fabric that extends down the legs. Since men are more visual in terms of how they evaluate attractiveness, briefs were seen as a way for gay men to visually attract other gay men. To wear briefs was to risk allegations of closet homosexuality and most heterosexual men in the 2000s did not want to be associated with homosexuality.
In the 2010s, boxer-briefs transformed underwear fashion. Most men switched to boxer-briefs because they combined the supportive characteristics of briefs with the masculine aesthetic of boxers. In a 2019 AskMen poll, 42% of men stated they wear boxer-briefs.
With the rise in popularity of boxer-briefs, things have gotten better for humble old briefs. It’s now acceptable for men to wear tight underwear and many men are perhaps more understanding of why one would choose to wear briefs. As one of my friends phrased it, “People stigmatize what they don’t understand. People understand briefs are worn for support.”
From the 2010s until now, social justice movements have pushed for people to use more inclusive language and to think about others’ feelings more. One of the consequences is that homophobia is still prevalent but far less common than it was in the 2000s. Today, a lot of young people recognize that to dismiss briefs as gay is bigoted. At the same time, young people recognize how the decision to wear briefs relates to gender, sexuality, or just plain personal preference, and that to stigmatize briefs inflicts unfair psychological harm on those who wear them.
Now, people like Harry Styles, Charlie Puth, and Ross Lynch can be seen posing in briefs. According to a 2016 study published by YouGov, 10% of men 16 to 24 years old wear briefs.
Briefs are making a comeback, and why shouldn’t they? They were unfairly maligned and judged for decades when the truth is that they are a practical and comfortable option for many people.
Fashion cycles will always change and with them so will norms about underwear styles. Those who try to feel superior by judging others’ underwear choices might soon find themselves judged when fashion preferences change. Instead of waging an endless underwear fashion war, let’s all agree to create a more inclusive society by respecting each other’s preferences and comfort.
What say you, NSG? Is there a stigma against briefs? If so, why?
