And Why a Thong Doesn’t Feel Like One
If you’ve never worn a men’s thong before, there’s a good chance you’ve had the same thought I once did:
“Surely wearing a thong must feel like having a wedgie all day.”
After all, both involve fabric sitting between your asscrack don’t they?
But as it turns out, they’re actually very different experiences, so today we’re looking at what a wedgie is, and why a thong isn’t one (and can help you have less of them)
What Is a Wedgie?
A wedgie happens when underwear ends up somewhere it wasn’t designed to be. This can happen in two ways. Either they’re pulled up there or they have worked their way up there themselves.
Pulled up there
This is when you’ve accidentally pulled your underwear up too high. Or someone else has pulled them up to cause discomfort.
Worked up there
When your bum muscles have moved and flexed throughout the day, and your underwear fabric can’t keep up, so it gets pulled into an area where it doesn’t need to work against your body, up your crack.
Both ends up with a large amount of fabric bunched between the buttocks.
That’s why wedgies feel so uncomfortable. The underwear is out of position and under unusual tension. Something isn’t right, and your first instinct is to pull the fabric back into place.
A Thong Starts in the Right Position
A thong isn’t going to stop that first kind of wedgie; someone pulling our underwear up further than they’re supposed to go will be uncomfortable no matter what you choose to wear.
But for the wedgies that just happen throughout the day, a thong works differently. The narrow back strap is designed to sit between the buttocks from the moment you put it on.
Nothing has ridden up.
Nothing is being forced somewhere it shouldn’t be.
It’s simply sitting where it was intended to sit.
Thongs Have Less Material Up There
Another reason a wedgie feels uncomfortable is the amount of fabric involved.
A boxer brief leg or the back of a pair of briefs is relatively wide.
When that much fabric bunches together, it creates folds, wrinkles and pressure. A large mass of fabric insistent on working its way into you
A thong back is very narrow by comparison.
Instead of several centimetres of fabric trying to squeeze into the same space, there’s just a slim strap designed for exactly that purpose.
There’s much less material to create pressure or bunching.
Stability Is the Key
A wedgie is constantly moving. As you walk a few steps it shifts. You sit down and it changes position again. It rarely stays comfortable because it isn’t stable, you have to dig it out and adjust everything.
A well-fitting thong is surprisingly different.
Once it’s settled into place, it tends to stay there.
Because it isn’t constantly moving, your brain quickly stops paying attention to it. You end up experiencing less wedgies in your day to day life.
Why Your Brain Expects the Worst
Before trying a thong, your only point of reference is the other times fabric has found its way between your cheeks, usually a wedgie.
So your brain naturally assumes that if the fabric between the cheeks from traditional underwear feels uncomfortable, a thong must feel even worse.
But that’s like assuming a properly fitted shoe must feel like a shoe that’s slipped halfway off your foot.
The sensation is different because the design is different.
One is working as intended.
The other isn’t.
My Own Experience
Before I bought my first thong, I was convinced the back strap would feel at least a bit like a wedgie. I’d asked women I knew about why they wore them and understood the less-fabric-up there argument, but it was the one thing I couldn’t stop thinking about.
Instead, it turned out to be one of the least interesting parts of wearing a thong. After a few minutes, I found it surprisingly unobtrusive. After a couple of hours I’d forgotten I was even wearing a thong.
That wasn’t what I’d expected at all.
Does It Take Time to Adjust?
For most people, yes.
Anything unfamiliar feels more noticeable at first.
The first few minutes wearing a thong are often spent paying attention to the new sensation simply because it’s different.
As long as the thong fits well, that awareness usually fades as your brain realises there’s nothing uncomfortable happening.
It’s not that the strap disappears, It’s that it stops feeling important.
Thongs Aren’t Wedgies
Unless someone pulls them up intentionally, thongs reduce wedgies.
The idea that a thong feels like a permanent wedgie is just a misconception surrounding this style of underwear.
A wedgie is uncomfortable because underwear has moved somewhere it wasn’t meant to be.
A thong is comfortable when it’s designed to be there from the start.
It’s one of those things that’s difficult to understand until you try it.
