A
G-string (alternatively
gee-string or
gee string) is a type of
underwear, a narrow piece of cloth,
leather, or
plastic that covers or holds the
genitals, passes between the
buttocks, and is attached to a band around the
hips, worn as
swimwear or
underwear by both men and women.
The two terms
G-string and
thong are often used interchangeably; however, they can refer to distinct pieces of clothing, see
Thong: Design and variety for details.
Origin
A woman wearing a minimal T-back that causes very few
tan lines.
G-string or thong is probably the earliest form of
clothing known to mankind; having originated in the warmer climates of
sub-Saharan Africa where clothing was first worn nearly 75,000 years ago. Many tribal peoples, such as some of the
Khoisan people of
southern Africa, wore thongs for many centuries. Much like the 2000-plus-year-old
Japanese
fundoshi, these early garments were made with the male genitalia in mind.
Although developed for the male anatomy by primitive peoples, in the modern West G-strings are more often worn by females. Female strippers and erotic dancers in the west have been wearing G-strings and thongs during their routines since the mid-1920s. They first gained mainstream popularity as swimwear in
South America, particularly in
Brazil in the 1970s. It was originally a style of
thong swimsuit whose rear area became so narrow that it would disappear between the wearer's
buttocks.
Etymology
The origin of the term "G-string" is obscure. Since the 19th century the term
geestring referred to the string which held the
loincloth of
American Indians and later referred to the narrow loincloth itself.
William Safire in his
Ode on a G-String quoted the usage of the word "G-string" for loincloth by
Harper's Magazine 15 years after Beadle's and suggested that the magazine confused the word with the musical term G-string (i.e., the
string for the G
note). Safire also mentions the opinion of linguist
Robert Hendrickson that G (or gee) stands for
groin, which was a
taboo word at these times.
There are a number of intermediate styles between full rear coverage and a string rear. Like the
tanga, the G-string is essentially a bottom covering that covers the
pubis and leaves the buttocks bared; The term G-string is generally used when the vertical strap in the rear of a G-string is no wider than a string.
[ at ] Other similar styles include the Brazilian, rio, and T-back (T-string). The naming of the intermediate cuts is debatable, and different vendors use the words somewhat interchangeably.
In the late 1940 early 1950's sexy under wear model Bettie Page was honored as the Pin Up Queen of the world. Most people did not know that she had hand-made her G-strings and all her sexy under garments, sexual items such as G-strings were not available in stores or the Sears catalog.
Commercialization
Popularization in the Western culture
Attitudes to wearing G-strings vary, as is usual with highly revealing clothing. By the late 1980s, the design (for females) had made its way into most of the
Western world, thong and G-string
underwear became more and more popular through the 1990s due to shows like
Baywatch, where numerous females were recorded wearing thong swimsuits.
As of 2002, G-string underwear was one of the fastest-selling
styles among women. One advantage attributed to the wearing of G-string underwear is that no visible
panty line can be seen even under a thin, light-colored or skin-tight garment. Although the popularity of wearing G-string underwear in America has taken off only in the last decade, in
Europe it has been commonplace for many more years.
Health issues
In recent years, health and safety issues have arisen from the incorrect wearing of G-string. Gynaecologists have mentioned the increase of genital infections, mainly in women, caused by continual wearing. They recommend that G-string underwear be worn for no more than six hours at a time (without changing or washing), disposed of after four months regular use, - and to never sleep in them. Swimwear styles were included but due to their frequent contact with water while being worn, common sense would prevail.
In other languages
In
Australia the terms
G-string and
thongs are both used but
thong is also a kind of
rubber footwear.
Many languages borrow the English word
string to refer to this kind of underwear, usually without the
G. Another common name is
tanga. A frequent metaphor, especially in South America, is
dental floss as in
Spanish hilo dental or Portuguese
fio dental. A
Puerto-Rican Spanish slang term, used by
Reggaeton artists, is
gistro.
Sometimes the bareness of the bottocks is emphasised as in Spanish
colaless, sometimes the T-like shape of the back. In Eastern Asia the G-string is widely known as
T-back. The sound has been causing some confusion among Japanese speakers with a
tea bag, which is also common in today's Japanese dictionaries. However, there are several usages of the term "T-back" in
English as well (e.g.
Children's literature author
E.L. Konigsburg's
T-backs, T-shirts, Coat and Suit). In other dialects of the
Chinese language, the G-string is commonly called
dingziku (丁字褲/丁字裤) which literally means "丁 character pants" (or roughly, "T-letter pants").
In
Lithuanian it is "siaurikės" ("narrows"),
Italian "perizoma", in
Turkish "ipli külot" ("stringed underpants"), in
Bulgarian as "prashka" (slingshot), and in
Korean "티팬티" ("T panty").
In
Israel the G-string is called "Khutini" (), from the word Khut, which means String. Similarly, in
Iran, it is called "Scortbandi" () in which "scort" (from
English: Shorts) means "briefs" and "bandi" means "with a string".
See also
