Men’s Bikini Underwear: Breaking Stereotypes and Redefining Masculinity
I decided to look at breaking stereotypes and redefining masculinity in men’s underwear by looking at mainly men’s bikini underwear. It is going to be less a stretch for people to accept men in bikini cut underwear over thongs and g-strings. The bikini cut isn’t a huge jump from briefs though it is a bit more of a jump from probably the most popular cut, the boxer brief. You would think in this day and age there would be some openness for guys breaking away from the boxer and brief world.
The biggest stereotype when it comes to guys opting for sexier cuts of underwear has to be they are gay or feminine. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this. First off, how does underwear define sexuality? Simple answer: it doesn’t! Underwear is an article of clothing not a feeling, thought, desire, etc. It may be true that more gay guys wear sexier underwear, but that doesn’t equate to anything other than they wear bikinis more than the straight guy. Also just because women wear bikinis doesn’t make the style just women’s either. It’s about who the underwear is made for.
Women don’t like men to wear bikini style underwear is another stereotype out there. It is true some women are totally against men wearing anything other than boxer briefs. The reasons I have come across on why are all dumb in my opinion. I’ve seen the reason like I want something left to my imagination. Then things that go along with the previous stereotype. It all comes down to no open mindedness for those women. People do not like the change. My guess is that the vocal ones are making people feel there are a lot of women against guys going against the norm in men’s underwear. I personally believe a majority of women have some openness to guys wearing bikini underwear. Yes, they might think it is odd at first, but in time they’ll come around.
As I mentioned I don’t think it is a big leap for people to see bikini underwear as a viable option for guys to wear. For one there has been a little bit of a rebranding I would say of what I’ll call a traditional bikini cut. The more sleeker take on a brief with the sports brief. Underwear called sport briefs have narrower sides than a traditional brief; maybe around 3” or less. They look more like the traditional brief, so they still resemble what people think is men’s underwear.
Personally my definition of bikini underwear is more around a 1” side and I prefer without the typically men’s elastic waistband that a lot of time has branding on it. Yes, this particular take on the bikini looks more like what you’d see women wearing, but they are designed for men. In my mind this style is pretty flatter with the male physique.
Doesn’t it seem time to redefine masculinity in men’s underwear from just boxers, boxer briefs, and briefs? If you do a search on “masculinity qualities,” the results for qualities actually include a lot of negative ones. For example, you’ll see qualities like dominance, aggression, emotional restraint, and not being a feminist ally. Then some of the other ones could be negative or positive depending on the guy. These qualities don’t particularly relate to redefining men’s underwear masculinity, but bear (or you can also bare) with me. I’m going to come back to some other qualities shortly.
The problem with bikini underwear and smaller styles is they are associated with being women’s underwear these days. Even when they are specifically made for a man. It doesn’t seem men are supposed to wear things that are considered sexy. I think most people consider bikinis and thongs sexy underwear. Are men allowed to feel sexy? Do women really find rough and tough men sexy? Men are not supposed to show their bodies while women are encouraged to show theirs. It seems a man wouldn’t be a man without his body, so why does wearing something that puts our body on display like women do not equate to masculinity.
So let’s use three qualities that came up in my search of masculinity that we can use in redefining masculinity in men’s underwear.
Courage
First one is courage. Guys are supposed to be courageous. It takes balls to go against the norm. So being a guy wearing so called unmasculine underwear is actually a masculine quality of having courage.
Confidence
The next quality is confidence. Men are supposed to be confident. I would say you have to be confident to go against what most guys wear in underwear. Then also for those of us already into wearing bikinis and thongs, we know these styles can boost confidence. Read that last sentence again. Sexy underwear boosts confidence, which is what men are supposed to be.
Leadership
Then the last quality I’ll touch on is leadership. Men are supposed to be leaders. What better way to be a leader than transforming the underwear that is acceptable by society for men to wear.
Let’s use these masculine qualities to redefine masculinity not just in men’s underwear, but in men’s clothing. Men should be able to wear items that put their bodies on display if we so desire. Really it’s not about putting the body on display, it is about comfort. I don’t wear clothing that isn’t comfortable. Bikinis and thongs as underwear and swimwear are comfortable options for all to wear. Leggings are also very comfortable for all to wear. Women seem to live in them and there are good reasons for it. It’s time to be the masculine you and wear what you want with courage, confidence, and leading the way in redefining what men can wear.
Ways to Support The Bottom Drawer by Shopping
Thanks for putting that article together, interesting topic huh?
I for one have worn bikini underwear and swimmers for literally 60 years. I’ve never worn boxers or boxer briefs, they just have too much material, are hot and uncomfortable. I really want to be comfortable and if I can look good at the same time, so be it.
My wife is fully supportive of my underwear choices, she just loves my g strings and thongs, but my bikini collection is mainly slightly see through which she loves as well, if I started wearing boxer briefs or grandpa briefs she’d think I’d lost my mind.
If coming up to summer here in Australia and at the moment I’m only wearing thongs and g strings.
We have several gay friends, who haven’t said anything about my underwear choices, but certainly know I’m into skimpy undies, the funny thing is, they all wear really daggy cotton “bloomers”, not in the least bit sexy, which I find quite odd, as the stereotype for gay guys apparently for them to wear outrageous undies.
In this day and age we should all be allowed to wear what we want, I certainly do and this summer will be rocking my swim thongs on the beach, can’t wait.
LOVE this…and totally agree!!!
Keep up the awesome work! 🙂
Thanks! glad you enjoyed the post.
I have worn bikini and now string bikinis for over 65 years and all the qualities you have set out apply. I feel confidant and normal and courageous. Thank you for putting this together in words. The only time in my life i wore baggie boxers was in the military and as soon as they told us we could wear briefs, I was all in.
I do have to admit I am a nudist, so even less is even better.
There are several sites on YouTube that show clips of old soap operas from various countries, and a lot of the leading actors wear skimpy swim bikinis and even thong underwear without diminishing their masculinity. Nowadays it is a rarity to see any leading actors or celebrities wearing anything remotely skimpy. Perhaps if more of them endorsed briefer styles, we might see them becoming popular again and help bury the tiresome stereotypes that are associated with such styles.
I’ve been wearing bikinis since my teens when they were readily available in most high street stores, followed by thongs and g strings. Thankfully we now have online shopping to fill the void left by those stores, many of them sadly no longer in existence.
Long may sites like TBD continue to champion the wearing of the sexy styles highlighted in this post.
Woah! Thanks a lot for that article! You literally put words to my confused brain. I didn’t know why I was more and more interested with smaller underwear. When my wife was asking, I always struggled to explain my thought. I shared your article with her so she can now understand and OMG, best move. That article seems to have open her eyes a bit more. She respect my choice but she wasn’t sure she liked it. We had a great conversation and I’m now ever more confident with my choices and I think she’s more openmind now.
I hate those stereotypes and how everybody just go with it. There’s a lot of dude out there who could easily stand out with sexy underwear. I’m always amaze when I see those ads of boxer that don’t roll up or when people need a pouch for their balls. Why don’t use briefs..? They dont have those problems and it’s way more flattering for the butt…
Just for the info (and because I want to share haha) I started wearing swim briefs about 6 years ago. Mostly with my wife. I really love the feeling. It then open my mind, and I started to transition my underwears from boxer to brief. I enjoyed trying new underwear, at first they were more classic brief. In the last few years I bought smaller brief and even tried jockstrap. At that time thong was a no go. Lastly, I started to be more interest by those. Never tried it yet, I was a little bit ashame because my wife was a bit disgust. This article help her tho, she’s now more open to it. And I’m now very trill to buy my first pair!
Thanks !
Wow, that’s great to hear that the blog post helped you and your wife out! Thanks for sharing that. Hopefully she come to love you breaking away from the norm in underwear. Check out The Bottom Drawer Forums if you want views from more people on different underwear topics along with interacting with others into underwear.
Good article TBD! There have been some interesting discussions I need on the the forums about underwear/swimwear preferences and masculinity. On the subject of thongs and bikinis being framed as stereotypically a gay thing; I find this is very true when it comes to advertising. Almost all of the marketing for male thongs/bikinis is aimed at a gay audience. I have nothing against LGBTQ folks and sure there are gay and bisexual men who enjoy wearing skimpy styles, however plenty of straight men do also. I would love to see more representation of straight men in male thong and bikini advertising. I think this is a likely a hindrance in getting straight men comfortable with these styles.
Agreed! Marketing is sided with the LGBTQ however I think it is coming around! A few larger outfits are trying to show “straight” guys. It will take probably another generation to come around. Smaller cuts are more practical (like easier to get long underwear on) Also my wife loves bikini cuts on me! Bikini, thong, shear is indeed masculine!
Great article Nate. I’ve preferred bikini style underwear for nearly 30 years (makes me feel old lol). I tried boxers, they just didn’t support anything, so I was mainly a brief guy. But I have thick thighs, when I found string bikinis, I loved them. It was later I discovered thongs and love them even more. I did fall victim to the boxer brief and wore them for many years – some were comfortable and many were not worth the money wasted. In terms of masculinity, I would be considered a metrosexual, I can go from getting a massage, to shopping, to enjoying a play, to working in the yard digging in the dirt. Women and society in general needs to learn that underwear does NOT define ones sexuality or masculinity.