Men’s Bikinis and Thongs Are Not a Joke
I’m tired of men’s bikinis and thongs (swim briefs too) being a joke everywhere. I don’t find my underwear and swimwear choice as being funny. It makes one that enjoys them feel like they are being ridiculed. That we should be embarrassed for wearing them.
Even when they aren’t necessary going for a laugh with them they are not represented the same way women are when wearing them. I’m for any shape and size wearing them, but usually it is not the fit guys wearing them. Just the other day my wife and I were watching a show and there was a scene for a polar bear swim event. The larger guys were sporting the swim briefs while the fittest guy was in swim shorts. There were some guys in more of a square cut suit that were more of the average build. Why couldn’t there have been a variety of suits on the different size guys?
I don’t know how many kid’s movies I have now seen them being used as jokes. A minion wearing a thong. They even had Gru hanging from a floating ship in bubble gum that was between his legs looking like a thong. Then in the first Hotel Transylvania, they had a couple of the monsters wearing swim briefs in a pool scene. Now I didn’t feel they were being used as much for a laugh in it. The joke was more with the invisible man that was wearing one and he got pants. Now the 3rd Hotel Transylvania example is more for a laugh. They had Vlad (Drac’s dad) strutting across the cruise ship deck wearing a swim brief. Then they showed him walking by the witches who were checking him out. Those are a few instances that come to mind, but there are others. So the kids movies are already brainwashing kids that guys do not wear swim briefs, bikinis, and thongs.
I also don’t find it funny seeing the YouTube videos of guys wearing them for a joke just to try and get a reaction. I haven’t paid much attention to it there lately, but I assume it is still occurring. Now maybe some of them want to wear them and that is the only way they get a chance. But I’m sick of the negativity towards guys wearing skimpy underwear and swimwear. I don’t recall any scene or videos that are made to make fun of women in a particular style of underwear or swimwear. Why can’t we grow up on the men’s underwear and swimwear front and respect swim briefs, bikinis, and thongs?
A couple to a few decades back there were movies that represented particularly the bikini in a positive way. There is a forum topic with a list of some. One example that sticks out in my mind of some positive skimpy swimwear exposure is the football movie Any Given Sunday. There are a couple scenes in it. One is Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx) singing a song wearing what appears to be a Speedo Solar. The other one is I believe they were playing football on the beach and there was one of the guys wearing a purple bikini posing suit. The rest of the guys were of course in trunks. I don’t recall any newer movies that represent our liking, but I also haven’t seen a lot of movies. My movie watching has been weighted more towards kids than adults too.
I of course do not laugh when I see bikinis and thongs being used as a joke. It makes me angry especially with my goal to promote them as a great option for males to wear. Now I have come across some guys the joke ended up being on them. They bought a thong to be a joke and ended up liking them when they tried them on. Guess all we can do is do our best to continue to represent wearing them confidently in a positive light. Does it bother you when bikinis, thongs, or swim briefs are used as a joke?
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That’s my whole point. It’s always some kind of joke. Our selection of mentioned thongs, bikinis, briefs, leggings, etc… aren’t given the same equal representation as women’s.
I really believe is a maturity thing, and that’s just a maturity level most of its men just never reach, and I guess some women too. But you hit the nail “dead square” on the head.
I think we as guys that wear bikini or thong gotta hold out for hope that things can change (in our favour). Maybe a mens underwear/swimwear revolution is possible yet. Otherwise just keep rockin bikini or thong where possible….
I agree. I push through any self imposed reservations I may have and just own it. I spend a lot of days at our local lakes around Phoenix. For the most part I get no comments. If someone does say something 90% of the time it’s positive.
My choice of beach wear are Turbo waterpolo briefs. (Not the swimsuits, if you want to check them out, but the waterpolo suits. They’re lined front and back and just fit better. https://turboswim.com/en/men/water-polo-suits/ ) They’ve got thousands of different designs and I own about 200 of them. (I may have a problem.) Thongs and bikinis are my go-tos in underwear.
But yeah, I wish nen’s bikini style swimwear wasn’t a thing here in North America.
The only negative comments I get when wearing a thong is from backward rednecks that are homophobic and make fun of anything they aren’t smart enough to understand. They consider my choice in bikini’s and thong’s as gay. But my wife loves it and works out at the gym with me. As for those idiots who cares. Their type will never change because they are afraid of change.
You hit the nail on the head, brother! Most of the scoffers are ignorant men who have been brainwashed by feminism into being ashamed of themselves. When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, bikinis were a popular style of underwear and swimwear, but as the feminist movement progressed, the style of underwear and swimwear that we like regressed. Sadly, I think in the next 40 years or so, once our generations have died, men’s thongs and bikinis will no longer exist because WE are the market for that particular style of menswear and once our generations are gone, so will thongs and bikinis. They will be extinct as dinosaurs!
I really enjoyed those comments and agreed with them.
Part of it is the image social media paints and fear of how others will perceive you if they found out. Those who aren’t willing to go against (sadly) socially acceptable norms might be hesitant to give them a try. I wonder how many men are curious but not able to take the plunge to just buy a few pairs to try out. I also wonder what the main factor holding them back would be, is it more so significant others or their social/work setting. It’s way easier to go with the flow then to branch out and try something new that can be viewed as “different”. Im sure this topic negatively impacts the numbers of thong/bikini wearers too.
That’s still no excuse.
When I was going through my curious stage, my main concern was where to find men’s thong, bikinis, etc.
After I got my own thongs, bikinis, leggings, my concern was where could wear them. Who saw me really wasn’t that much of a concern. But I do really think media, gives men’s clothing a bad name.
This is an important point – it’s often during your late teens/early 20s when you start to become more curious about different types of underwear and swimwear (well it was in my case anyway) and it’s not good for young guys that want to explore this but feel that it is viewed as weird or odd by society.
Hopefully society continues to support the general empowerment and acceptance conversation. The current focus certainly seems to be on females, which is fair considering the ridiculous levels of body dysmorphia the modelling industry has promoted amongst women for decades+. Yet, now we see very real looking women modelling swimsuits, underwear, etc. The expectation that you have to have the “right” body to wear something sexy has been successfully challenged by women. Now we just need to continue to trend for men. The vast majority of male models still continue to look very photoshopped and definitely not like the majority of men. Like women, acceptance by the public at-large as well as a willingness for guys to try new things will be difficult while the only representatives of that sort of clothing still look like Grecian statues!
I must totally agree! I am proud the way I look, feel and so is my wife! It is cruel and heartless for lack of a better wording to down play someone sporting a thong of bikini. The USA needs to take lessons from the EU in that regard. Thanks
Yes it does bother me to see male thongs/bikinis/swim briefs being ridiculed. All the prank videos are very annoying. I agree with Black Stallion that it’s a maturity thing. It seems North Americans just can’t take a mature view of male expression with underwear and swimwear. I even ran across a Youtube video some girl and her mom made in Walmart in the men’s underwear aisle. They were making fun of the Jockey Life string bikinis, questioning what “man” would actually wear these. I wanted to post a comment calling her out for her ignorance and immaturity but the video was very old. But there is hope because I have found a lot of positive videos and commentary online regarding male thongs and bikinis. Hopefully public attitudes in this area will progress. The best thing for us to do is wear them with confidence whether at the pool, beach or locker room. This blog and others like it do a great job helping guys be confident. Keep up the good work TB drawer!
I think a lot of it is rooted in fear of rejection by a partner.
I have a good friend who moved here from Egypt and wears bikinis. The guy is in great shape, and I imagine they looked good on him. He recently got married, and mentioned his (American) wife asked him to switch to trunks, ridiculing his bikini underwear mercilessly at the engagement party to her friends.
(Meanwhile, his overweight wife wears tiny bikinis to the beach regularly). It’s an unfair standard, and it’s unfortunate he caved in to her.
I imagine many guys are curious to at least try a new style, but fear ridicule
Unbelievable! If I were him, I would see how she feels of I made the same demand to her, but then again I would not need in that situation, because I’m not interested in obese women. And even still of she made the demand fair build or not, it’s not going to happen, unless she’s going to buy all of my clothes with no other strings attached. And then some.
You are right that some are concerned about their partner’s thoughts when wanting to switch from the norm to bikini and thongs. And there can be a mixed reaction though in the end they should support you in what you want to wear especially with underwear, since not many see you in them. Now that is surprising that he has always worn bikinis and she waited until they were engaged to show her dislike of them. That to me is a red flag to run. What else is she going to force upon him if she can’t handle something as trivial has bikini underwear. The stereotypes and the ingraining that these styles aren’t for guys has them second guessing. At least most of us have come to realize they are for us guys too.
I agree, it’s a red flag to me as well. Interestingly, the wife is very active on social media with body-positive postings. Doesn’t seem consistent with her view on husband’s skimpy underwear.
My own underwear has gotten mixed reviews in my previous relationships. My take is, I wear what’s comfortable, and I wore this when you met me. So why is it a problem now?
I think it’s because most women have been mentally conditioned by radical feminism to believe that men who wear bikinis, thongs, etc, are not manly. In today’s culture, the styles of underwear that we here prefer are looked on as gay, sissy and effeminate.
I definitely think both styles are viewed as gay these days. although I grew up with a bikini-wearing dad. Bikinis and string bikinis were still fairly normal when I was in high school and college. it’s definitely changed in the past 10 years or so
Have to say reading how your friend from Egypt’s new wife ridiculed his choice of underwear in front of her friends at the engagement party made me pretty angry. I agree with the other guys who see that as a red flag and an ominous sign of things to come.
It is usually men who get accused of being controlling of their wives and partners, telling them what they can or cannot wear, and who they can or cannot see,but your example shows that women can also be controlling. More fool your friend for giving in to her demands to change his choice of underwear.I’m pretty sure she won’t stop there.
T, It’s absolutely infuriating. Apparently, she had a party game going where each guest answered questions about the engaged couple to get points. One question was the style of underwear the groom wore. She shared with everyone that he wore string bikinis, but not to worry, because she fixed that and now he wears trunks like a man. My friend was embarrassed and apparently the guests got quite a kick out of it.
I’m married myself, and while I don’t advertise that I wear thongs, a handful of my friends have found out by now. I don’t know how I’d react being put in that situation being laughed at.
I’d have walked. The relationship is at the engagement stage, so that makes it easy to leave. I would seek a more mature woman.
She was jealous that he looked better in his skimpy underwear than she does.
I agree it’s tiring and depressing. The way it is ridiculed, you’d think it was only a very small subset of men who wear bikinis and thongs as their main choice of underwear but we know that not to be true. Instead most men are shamed or embarrassed by what they chose to wear.
And I’m going to say what everybody else is afraid to say.
That majority of men who are ashamed or embarrassed are the cowards, punks, men without backbones. As well as the ones who let others influence them.
You forgot the real reason they can’t wear tight suits. They have no bulge because their balls are in her purse!
The movie Couples Retreat came to mind when thinking about the post. In the yoga scene when Carlos Ponce appeared in his speedo the women were fascinated by his body in the small suit and were drooling; while the men seemed embarrassed that they didn’t have the confidence to do the same. One character took his shirt off to show he was “man” enough. Some people (men and women alike) are going to laugh because they are immature and close minded, however there will be some that laugh because that is their defense mechanism to hide their insecurities. Those individuals don’t have the confidence to wear bikini or thong underwear, so they have to make the ones that do feel as if they are doing something wrong.
Perhaps there is a way to determine the idiots from the insecure to know which to ignore and which to educate.
David, you said the magic word there, “Confidence”
Women are attracted to men who are confident, and secure in themselves. I have worn thongs and bikinis for 34 years (since I was 15) in that span of time, I have been married twice and dated 5 other women and none of them had issue or problems with my persona choice in underwear. It was not a “deal-breaker” to them! On the contrary, they remarked that it showed great confidence in myself and that I was secure in my sexuality. Women admire and are attracted to confident, secure men!
I have seen a scene with a young woman in granny panties that was part of the comedy, I can’t remember what the movie was. But yes, by and large it does seem to be men who are made fun of.
I do get annoyed with this reaction, and it should not be balanced and start applying to woman, it should be removed altogether. Like a lot of comedy, things stop being funny after a while and the writers have to move on to other subjects. I am surprised that this goes on as I would have thought anything that might be seen as “gay bashing” would be steered clear of.
There was an episode of “That 70s Show” where Donna’s boyfriend Eric thought it would be funny to pull her pants down in front of all of their friends and in doing so, exposed the granny panties that she was wearing. Throughout the entire show, they teased Donna about her huge panties. Maybe that is the show you are thinking of?
No, I’ve never seen that show, if it was not on our ABC or SBS it’s unlikely I would have bothered with it. But that is another one to add to the list.
That 70s Show was a Fox Network series. Here is the scene from that particular episode
I think we should make our voices heard, and demand that things be allowed by men and women wherever swimming is allowed. However we should also defend those being harassed whether man or women, in shape or out of shape. And also check your fellow partner whether man or woman when they make derogatory or inappropriate comments or advances.
I honestly think that all gender problems we see today are from the the fact that men’s bodies have been shamed. The last 3 decades society has made men crawl into a shell. The only human anatomy most see is female.
My wife likes to watch the house wives shows on Bravo tv. The salt lake city show has a young (man) late teens early 20’s was offended because a lady showed her snatch. When I was that old my tongue would have been on the floor.
We have a real problem in this time we live in of body shaming everyone. it’s sad, sad days we live in. Your to skinny, to fat, to tall, to short, to big or to male, to female.
Just worry about you and everything else will fall into place.
Now I’m going to go swim in a hotel pool in a black THONG! 🤪
Unfortunately the style of underwear that we here prefer to wear has been co-opted and hijacked by the LGBTQ movement. Bikinis, thongs, g-strings and string bikinis will be forever seen as a gay thing and sissy and effeminate… sad to say. When I was a teenager growing up in the 1980s, bikini underwear was very popular among teenagers and men. Even into the 1990s, you could walk into any department store and find a huge selection of bikini and string bikini underwear, even a few thongs! Now, you’re lucky to find a department store that carries at least one brand of men’s bikini briefs… no thongs… never any thongs.
One of the many cool things about this blog is that it is open and welcoming to all,be you straight,bi,gay or whatever.And unless someone specifically states their sexuality,then it is no-one else’s business.
The one thing that brings us together as a “community” is our shared passion for the subject matter that inspired Nate to set up this blog. Therefore I would hope it wasn’t Jason’s intention to offend by suggesting/stating that the LGBTQ movement had “hijacked bikinis,thongs,g-strings and string bikinis leading to them now being seen as a gay thing and sissy and effeminate!” And in a later post referring to Borat’s mankini “as if men like us wear them as part of our daily underwear choices.”
I can’t be certain,but I’m sure there are lots of LGBTQ guys who DON’T wear thongs etc,but the way the media portrays them in TV and film is generally that the ultra camp guy is wearing the skimpiest outfit. Many online underwear sites are also guilty of using terms like sissy and gay in their descriptions of skimpy undies.
Can someone explain why jockstraps are not disparaged and considered effeminate? After all,they do expose more skin than bikinis,don’t conceal the crack like a thong,and do seem to be popular with LGBTQ guys? Is it because they are traditionally seen to be worn by manly men playing tough sports like rugby or American football?
Recent posts by Danny and Randy have highlighted the negative role that women can play in affecting and inhibiting the underwear choices of the men in their lives. And as long as those men allow their other halves to buy and therefore dictate what they wear,there is precious little chance of thongs,bikinis and g-strings becoming as popular as all followers of this blog would like.
It would be interesting to know what caused bikinis to be popular in the 70s/80s/90s. Was it the media? Did most men start picking the style for themselves? Or did their wives suggest something skimpy?
I feel like they were pretty common when I was growing up in the 90s. At that point in time, a lot of women must not have minded them.
Trends always come back. Hopefully it won’t take too long for this one
I never noticed any other guys wearing them in the 90s. Maybe it depended on where you lived. Many store did however have some offerings in my area with at least bikinis. Might be lucky to stumble upon a thong then too.
I think it was partly that such styles had become common with younger women and teenage girls, and the manufacturers started with versions for men. Bikini briefs and string bikinis were very popular men’s underwear with younger men during the 1970s and 1980s, though perhaps not so much during the 1990s as that is when briefer styles started going out of favour for some reason. Also witness Speedos losing favour as swimwear. I’m only talking about the situation in Australia, for other countries the time period may be a bit either way or this may never have happened at all.
I usually find programs made last decade but set in the 1980s often fail in the underwear styles used for the women characters. Slim attractive women usually would have worn a string bikini then, but the modern show does not reflect that. I suspect it’s because directors cannot tell actors what underwear to wear. I’ve also seen one go wrong in the opposite way – the 1980s “All Creatures Great and Small” set in the 1950s shows a girlfriend of one of the vets wearing a string bikini under a tight skirt. Oops.
There is another fact that can explain the vogue for bikinis before the 1990s, it is the multiplicity of films and comics of Tarzan and other heroes of the jungle, all handsome males and always dressed in a thin loincloth.
Then Tarzan and friends old-fashioned pals, losers … The new handsome, modern and virile dude arrived, surfing or windsurfing in a swimsuit going down to his knees …
I’d agree there are lots of LGBTQ guys that do not wear bikinis or thongs. Many of them that do wear them are just open about wearing them. However some have reservation about wearing them just the same as straight guys. It all comes down to stereotypes. There is the stereotype that bikinis and thongs are feminine, because they are perceived as women styles. Then there is the stereotype that because you are gay that you are feminine. Then you combine them and get bikinis and thongs are gay. Here we know they are for anyone. I don’t believe they have been hijacked, but embraced by many.
Who is consider a jock? Typically athletes and like you said more toward rugby and American football. Supposedly masculine sports. Hence back to more stereotypes. I’m not sure if they are seen as acceptable everyday underwear or not. I’m thinking that are acceptable when playing the sport. So if you wear them as everyday underwear they may have the same stereotype as bikinis and thongs for guys.
Basically the issue is stereotypes and people with closed minds that cannot see that stereotypes are not inclusive and probably not even a majority fit into them.
My comment was not meant to disparage the LGBTQ people here, only stating an observation in social trends that I have personally witnessed in my 49 years on this earth. growing up in the 70s and 80s, men wearing thongs, bikinis and string bikinis was not a big deal and then suddenly in the late 90’s and early 2000s, it became a gay thing … don’t shoot the messenger for telling the truth! I don’t know how old you are T, but if you are older than 40, surely you have witnessed the shift in social trends too.
I was watching a YouTube Video about different styles of men’s underwear. They actually featured the slingshot thong from the movie “Borat” as if men like us wear them as part of our daily underwear choices. They labeled it “The Mankini”
To say that it’s considered gay is not ridiculous by the fact that the majority of designers are gay. If you find any type of stand alone underwear store for men it’s in a gay neighborhood/ areas.
For me as a gay man my focus is different from a straight man. My focus is on the areas I’m sexually attracted to. From what I’ve been reading on this site most straight guys are it’s about how it feels and fits.
Yeah I don’t like the titles that some underwear is under like the “sissy” tag. It irks me that a lot of this behavior we are seeing is homophobic. I’m glad a majority of the straight men on this sight are not. We all like underwear that we wear albeit for different reasons. We all have the confidence to wear what we wear.
Hello Harold. As I’ve already mentioned in my comments posted last week,this blog is open to all,whatever their sexuality may be,and I’d like to assure you that any hint of homophobia would not be tolerated, and in the unlikely event you did come across something offensive,it would be dealt with immediately.
I’m sure we can all agree that wearing thongs,g-strings,bikinis and jocks can make us feel good about ourselves and put a little extra spring in our step as we go about our daily business. We are also aware of the effect they can have on potential partners(male and female),although it continues to baffle me that so many woman seem to have a negative attitude towards sexy male underwear and swimwear that shows off a guy’s bulge and butt!
I couldn’t agree more. I only wear male bikinis & thongs. My favourite is the Kiniki Kelly Tanga (a perfect cross between the two).
I think these mockery about wearing the thong or the bikini is a roundabout, indirect way of making fun of gay men who are supposed – in narrow minds – to be the only ones to wear this kind of clothing. It is therefore a hypocritical form of homophobia which should be denounced as such by all those who see this kind of questionable jokes …
I’m a straight guy and I wear thong underwear, wearing a pair of Emporio Armani micro fiber ones now. I do see that a lot on eBay, Amazon where the thong for men is listed as gay interest or gay! I don’t get it. Why don’t these selling platforms put a stop too that.!
I have an all men’s online underwear store I do sell men’s thongs and they do sell well but I couldn’t tell you there sexual orientation is but does it even matter. ” And my tittles never include GAY” it’s underwear it’s not designed for just Gay guys.
I do not buy from people that will put a label of gay or gay interest on the underwear they are selling. Even having panties included in the descriptions is enough to turn me off from buying from a seller. I haven’t noticed it used on Amazon as much as eBay and Aliexpress. You are right it is underwear designed for guys. Just like women’s underwear is designed for women. Maybe some day society will get it.
I’m old enough now to really not care what other people think. I like to wear underwear that is fun, daring comfortable and sexy, I’ve never worn boxers or boxer briefs and I haven’t worn full-cut Y-front briefs since I was 15! I have a wide variety of bikinis, string bikinis and thongs in my underwear drawer. All are skimpy and make me feel good wearing them. I don’t care if the vendors call them gay, sissy, panties or whatever. I know I’m not gay, and I don’t wear panties, not that that should make any difference.
For me it isn’t about what people think. I just rather support sellers that represent men’s underwear for all guys. No reason for me to support someone that must think they are for gays only and I guess females if they are labeling them as panties. I’ll try to keep the ones in business that appear to be open minded.
People (men AND women) who don’t wear men’s bikinis and thongs consider what we wear as panties. If we’re going to let other’s define what we choose to wear as panties, then we have already lost the debate. Even a lot of the manufacturers who make and sell the underwear we choose to wear describe them as “gay”, “sissy” and “panties” in their search descriptors. We can either let them win, conform to their worldview and surrender to wearing traditional and conventional, boring full-cut Y-front Briefs, Boxer Briefs and boxer shorts, or we can ignore their ignorance and wear what we want to.
Damn Good Point.
I thought I was being petty, because I had that same ideal, but I see you think like I do. If retailers refer to them as gay, or sissy, why in the hell should I give them one red cent, when they are just as ignorant as everybody else.
My message to women who do not respect speedos and thongs (worn by men) is, “Fine, then you go wear long shorts coming down to your knees at the beach and in the water. We’ll see how YOU like that”. In any case, is the emergence of transgender helping our cause at all? I would think that would have to give it a bit of a boost.
I must say that I’ve never received denigrating remarks about a speedo in the US. I think it’s because people in many places and milieus in the US have become accustomed to not expressing disdain in public and because of the growing legal protections of LGBTQs. By contrast, it’s in Europe (Benelux countries) that I’ve probably gotten the most slack in public for wearing speedos in public. In the US I would not hesitate for a second about wearing a speedo in most urban places. The legal protections for LGBTQ and lack of tolerance for hate speech is so strong in much of the US that the complaint of a speedo-wearer against a “speedo-hater” will usually win the day – and the speedo-haters for the most part know that.
I am in my late 50’s I have been wearing brief, bikini underwear my entire life. I tried boxer briefs in the past but for me there is too much material and feel restrictive. I have worn thong underwear also which I find comfortable especially in the summer when it’s hot. My wife does not like the thong underwear. I have worn speedos on and off since my early 20’s one girlfriend encouraged me to wear them which was nice when we were on vacation. Wore them on my honeymoon with my wife but once we were home I was back to trunks. Now that I am older and I am not in shape I have the Dad body I wear a speedo in my back yard pool when swimming and tanning alone. For me they are just more comfortable to wear then trunks. I do not like shorts that are below the knee so I wear the shorter 5 inch and I got comments that I am too old to wear such short shorts. I still wear them as at my age I do not care what other people think. Let’s keep bikini underwear and swim wear going.
After reading all the comments, I 💯 agree on all the comments. Question for everyone. (1) why don’t we ever see on TV no advertisement at any time men wearing thongs or something that looks like a thong and or even men wearing a full back bottom bikinis . But we see hot women and there bra and panties on the TV advertisement. Its goes back to the way the USA was set up with society rules. Its been a way of holding men back in how we dress, straight or gay. (2) Think of this, look how long has
its been since you seen any major road billboard with a man in any full bottom bikini. I have seen all the YouTube videos with men wearing pink thongs as a joke. But think of this, what did the women say and think when they got home after seeing a men bent over in public with a pink thong, out the top of he pants. There men maybe found a new thong or bikini in the Christmas gift box that year.