THONGS

FOR or AGAINST ?

The thong has now become impossible to circumvent in the female linen shop. Effect of fashion or women's liberation? Do girls dress in a too sexy way?

by Marie & Solenne  (Oct 15, 2003)

a cartoon by Arthur (LAT, Blois)

Against

"The G-string? We wear it every day". 14-year-old Marion and Alexia find it normal to wear a G-string. Their idols: Jennifer and Lorie. "They are beautiful, sexy". It is difficult for teenagers not to want to look like them.

Marie, a saleswoman at Pimkie, says that " clothing for girls is the same as for women, some sizes below." Teenage girls want to become women, and as fast as possible.

At Princesse Tam-Tam, in Nice, a specialist in linen: "A young girl of 15 came to buy a "guepière". She wanted to please her boyfriend. For Saint-Valentine today, the girls who want to buy underwear like the G-string. And the new fashion wants the G-string to stick out of trousers. Their navel outside, their make up like their mothers' ". These young girls jump off the steps of their life. And it’s a pity …

So, for certain people, most of the time, the teenagers’ parents say :

The G-string is like a detonator. Yes, the girls wear it on their skin, under their clothes.

It used to be a pornographic object, to be found in sex-shops.

In fact, teenagers wear provocative clothes. It isn’t only the G-string which causes problems , but also the transparent and moulding tops. The short trousers which show the underwear…

And another thing:  it’s a big education problem.

For Agnès Lethus, who has a linen shop, this fashion comes from education. And for her, when a young 14-year-old girl, wears a G-string, it’s only because she’s mistreated.

For

On the other hand, other persons are for this fashion. For them, it’s perfect :

• It’s more confortable,
• No mark under the clothes : it’s ugly to see the drawings with flowers, when we wear breeches.
• We are thinner
• Your boyfriend prefers that ( normally…)
• Your friends - girls - are jealous when they see you with it
• It’s often on sale ( you can have three for the price of one )

Now, when you wear a G-string, it’s not bad. On the contrary, you are more mysterious. But you mustn’t take advantage of it, you must keep it in your trousers, not out. Because then it’s not seduction but exhibition.

Now this fashion is going to stay and grow. Like the bikini. And maybe to extend to boys.

The future will tell us.

Another article on the subject, from Reuter in Paris,  October 6, 2003:

No Thongs or Midriffs Please, Say Schools

  (...) "In the eyes of boys, thongs reduce girls to bottoms," former junior education minister Segolene Royal said. "These adolescents are, sadly, a reflection of the society they are sold -- a society where women's bodies are shown off like vulgar merchandise," she told the newspaper. (...)

If you wish to react to this article, write to the editor.

To begin, I am rather in favour of thongs because I am a boy and I find the G-string more beautiful. I know more girls who wear thongs than girls who don't.

Adrien (LAT, Blois)

It is a great article. I am for thongs. But I think that the teenagers who are under fourteen years old shouldn't wear thongs because it's vulgar. Today we can see girls who are twelve years old with thongs who complain about the boys who insult them with dirty words!
It's the parents' fault and society’s fault.

Rose (LAT, Blois)

We are for thongs because they are more esthetic than grand-mother’s big panties : ). But there must be a limit of age. In the USA there are thongs for young 8-year-old girls! I’m thinking of all the little girls(12 years old) who show their thongs in the street, and provoke men! If Britney Spears didn’t show her thongs, maybe fewer little girls would wear them !

WOW! I'm shocked to read that a fourteen year old wears a thong. She shouldn't be wearing one at her age. Who does she want to impress or show! I find it disturbing that young teens are buying thongs for Valentine's Day. They're already having sex?! That's crazy!! I believe that an appropriate age to wear thongs is 16 or 17.

I don't quite agree with the statement " they are comfortable ". I find them annoying and demanding. I don't have a problem with people wearing them. What they do is their own business. Yet, when a pre-teen or young teen is wearing them that is just demeaning of society today. Girls who wear thongs to please their boyfriends just show how insecure they are. We should not be forced to wear such things just to please someone else. This is a problem with many girls all over the world.

I'm a guy. So naturally I like them but I think it’s a bad thing when I can see them sticking out of pants. I also agree with the article when it says that young girls should not be wearing them. Girls that young shouldn't be trying to be sex objects.

David (Petaluma, California, USA)

I think the writer of this article is over reacting; thongs are perfectly normal today. And by the way... you can find all underwear on sale! I thought over excadurating was for the U.S.; normale France seems like a very liberate country; it should stay that way. We have enough hypocrits in the world already.

I think thongs are fine, if kept under the clothes. Sometimes girls like to show off their thongs and that is really stupid. If you keep your thongs to yourself they are great, especially when you wear tighter style jeans or pants. If you are a mother and do not approve of your younger child wearing them, don't let her wear them. But when she gets older and can buy them herself, there's nothing you can do about it. Let her wear them. Banning them from the shops will not stop people from buying them. KEEP THE THONGS!

I'm in favour of the G-string because it doesn't leave any marks under the clothes. It's ugly to see the drawings when girls wear trousers. Guys prefer that because it's sexy. And so many girls are jealous when they see a girl with a G-string. People say girls must keep it in their trousers, but in my opinion out it's sexier. It's not bad. This fashion is woman’s liberation and not an exhibition. Before women had to hide their bodies. Now they can show them and claim their sexuality.

I'm amazed to see the huge number of answers to this article!! It shows that this subject interests a lot of people (it's fashion...).

To me, we cannot judge people on their clothes. But thongs are more and more fashionnable and that's why they are often badly used! At the beginning, there were just a minority of persons with it. But I'm shocked now when I see very young girls with it out of the trousers! Maybe they think that guys like it but they just look for it and have no respect for these girls!!!! It's also strange to say that they wear it because the marks on the trousers are ugly. Is it so ugly??? I think that thongs are not a problem when they are well used (like a lot of things...) and it’s a personnal choice. But girls have to think before buying thongs if it's really better for them or if it's just for fashion.

We are for the G-strings!!!!!!! but not for the girls who are less than 14 years old. It's not a pornographic object because it is very beautiful and practical in order not to see marks under the clothes. It's not vulgar. Moreover boyfriends find that sexy!!!!!!!!!

I believe that thongs or G-strings are fine. Fashion changes every day. If someone chooses to show it then it does not mean they are bad. Maybe they are confident about how they look and feel. I know if mine shows it doesn't bother me. I am secure in myself. This is because my jeans may be low rise. No Butts about it. That won't show! But as for young children wearing them if their parents allow them and the child is comfortable then let them. Everyone is such a fashion critic. I bet somewhere in your life you wore something that someone didn't like. But I bet you were confortable in wearing it and didn't care what anyone else thought. Guys wear their boxers out and that seems to be okay! So why not women ?

Chrissy (Philadelphia, USA)

I am a male, 30 yrs of age. I wear thongs. Why does it have to be all about the women? Men wear them too. They just don’t show and tell. I wear them because they are great for support of the male area. It is just like a jock strap but to me more comfortable for an every day wear. People need to realize that it is the next generation of underwear for MEN & WOMEN

Jamie (Hickory N.C., USA)

I started wearing thongs when I was 13. I never did it because they were cheap or cause of my boyfriend, I didn't have one. I wore them because they were comfortable. I sometimes let mine show but only because it makes me and others feel sexy around me or for Rocky Horror. I think that anyone should be allowed to wear a thong whatever age. Keep the thongs. They're all I wear, they're all that all of my friends wear. I don't know anyone that doesn't wear them.

Lyndsey (Clayton, California, USA)

Oct 9, 2004

I am a guy, so of course I like thongs. But I think if girls find thongs comfortable, they should wear them, no matter their age. Parents and schools should not tell girls what underwear to wear. They should wear whatever they like.

Mike (Virginia, USA)

June 15, 2005

I think it's perfectly ok for girls to wear thongs, even young girls. I have a GPA of 3.7 and all I own are thongs and G-Strings. They are verrry comfortable. Plus at my age most girls are sexully active. At a party I was to last week half of the girls were wearing thongs. Usually at my age many girls will without hesitation show guys what they are wearing. In conclusion I am a THONG supporter. And I can also say my boyfreind loves to see me wear them.

Jamie, 16 (PA)

July 17, 2005

Thongs should not be thought on badly for it is great that girls expose their sexuality. Then they become more social upon their piers and my girlfriend wears one.

Steven (Greely, Colorado, USA)