Walk into almost any high-street lingerie store, and you’ll find racks of women’s thongs presented as everyday essentials. They’re marketed as comfortable, flattering, seamless, and empowering. It’s just another underwear option.
Now imagine the same display for men. The public reaction would likely be… different.
So why is a strip of fabric considered normal for women but controversial for men? The answer has less to do with the garment itself and more to do with culture, masculinity, marketing, and long-standing double standards.
The Masculinity Rulebook
Men’s underwear has traditionally followed a very narrow script: Functional, Practical, Modest, high coverage, and Non-sexual. That’s why we’ve ended up with the norm being Boxers, Briefs, and Trunks. Neutral colours, Minimal fuss.
Women’s underwear, on the other hand, has long been positioned as part of beauty and self-expression. Lace, colour, minimal coverage, shaping, all normalised.
When a man wears a thong, it disrupts that script. People view it as: Deliberate body emphasis, Minimal coverage, Overt sexuality, and Fashion-forward styling. For some people, that clashes with traditional ideas of masculinity. The public discomfort isn’t about the fabric, it’s about the message.
Sexualisation: One-Sided and Normalised
Women’s bodies have been heavily sexualised in mainstream advertising for decades. Brands like Victoria’s Secret and Calvin Klein pushed thongs into the cultural mainstream in the 1990s and early 2000s. Low-rise jeans, Visible thong straps, “Whale tail” trends, and Glossy campaigns. Women’s thongs were reframed as fashionable and empowering.
Men’s thongs never received the same treatment. Instead, they were often marketed in Adult stores, Niche fashion circles, and LGBTQ+ nightlife spaces, so instead of being seen as everyday underwear, they were framed as erotic, extreme, or fetish-adjacent.
Marketing shapes perception. And perception sticks.
The LGBTQ+ Association Factor
Men’s thongs became more visible in queer spaces like pride events, club culture, fashion subcultures. Because society historically marginalised and stigmatized those spaces, the garments associated with them inherited some of that stigma. Even today, a man wearing a thong will face assumptions about his sexuality.
Women wearing thongs? No one questions it. That double standard speaks volumes.
Body Display Double Standards
There’s an unspoken rule in Western culture: Women are expected to be visually appealing, Men are expected to be understated. When a woman wears revealing underwear, it often aligns with beauty norms. When a man does the same, even when nobody sees it, a thong can be interpreted as Attention-seeking, inappropriate, and “Too much”. But why?
If confidence and body positivity are celebrated in women, shouldn’t they be equally valid for men?
The Comfort Myth
Another common argument: “Men’s thongs must be uncomfortable.” Interestingly, men who actually wear them say the opposite. There is no fabric bunching, less visible underwear lines, lightweight feel, and targeted support. They are now designed to be comfortable, everyday items.
Women’s thongs were once considered uncomfortable too, until they became normal. Sometimes discomfort is cultural, not physical.
It’s Not About the Underwear, It’s About Control
Clothing is one of the ways society subtly enforces gender roles. When men step outside these roles, it challenges those boundaries. And challenges create resistance.
Men’s thongs are viewed as controversial because they appear to blur rigid masculinity lines, express sexuality openly, and seem to reject the “men should be plain and practical” expectation
In reality, mens thongs are still masculine, don’t mean anything about your sexuality, and are a practical choice
The fabric is tiny. The cultural reaction is huge.
Will the Controversy Fade?
Probably. Boxer briefs were once seen as fashion-forward. Now they’re standard. Grooming products for men used to be mocked. Now there are entire aisles dedicated to them.
If mainstream brands marketed men’s thongs as just another comfortable cut, instead of niche or erotic, perceptions would likely shift over time.
Cultural norms evolve. Underwear evolves with them.
Men’s thongs aren’t controversial because they’re inherently extreme. They’re controversial because they challenge expectations about masculinity, sexuality, and who is “allowed” to express their body confidently.
The real question for the public isn’t “Why do men wear thongs?”
It’s “Why does it bother us when they do?”
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