From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Styles of stringed waistwear
| Back |
Sides |
| Strap |
Tie |
| T-String |
 |
| G-string |
 |
|
| V-string |
 |
A G-string (alternatively gee-string or gee
string) is a type of thong,
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: The primary difference between the two garments is that a
g-string has less material between the legs and buttocks, hence a
string-like appearance. Variants of the G-string include the
V-string, a thong with a triangle "V" of cloth at the top of
the rear, and the T-string, where a single string passes
around the waist and between the legs, forming a T between the
buttocks. See also the general article on thongs.
[
edit] Origin
A woman wearing a minimal T-string 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 thongs are more often worn by females. They first
gained mainstream popularity as swimwear in South America,
particularly in Brazil in the 1970s. In
Brazil, where the buttocks are especially admired and emphasized;
it was originally a style of thong
swimsuit whose rear area became so narrow that it would disappear
between the wearer's buttocks. Female
strippers and erotic dancers in the west have been wearing
G-strings and thongs during their routines since the mid-1920s.
[
edit] Etymology
The origin of the term "G-string" is obscure. The term is first
attested in writings by Americans in the late 1800s describing the
loincloth of
Philippines natives. In the "Philippines Islands" entry in the 1911
edition of the Encyclopædia
Britannica, the term "geestring" is used. Others say the term
is derived from the G-string on
a musical instrument, but it may just be an abbreviation of
"groin-string".[1]
The origin of the word "thong" is from the Old English
thwong, a flexible leather cord.
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 thong is no wider than a
string[2].
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.
[
edit] Commercialization
[
edit] 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. As of 2002, thong
underwear was one of the fastest-selling styles among
women. One advantage attributed to the wearing of thong
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 thong underwear in America
has taken off only in the last decade, in Europe it has
been commonplace for many more years.
[
edit] C-string
There are several variations on the G-string. An example of one
variation is the C-string; as narrow as a thong but without the
band around the waist, leaving just a "c-shaped" piece between the
legs held in place firmly by a flexible internal
frame.[3]
Since there is no material around the waist, the C-string
completely eliminates the panty lines
which thongs and other underwear create. C-strings are also
designed for use as beachwear, which reduces the tan
lines that would have been left by the side straps of even
a G-string. Removing the side straps also eases donning and
removal.
[
edit] Attitudes
G-string underwear is not without its own controversies. In
2002, Abercrombie
& Fitch launched a line of thong underwear marketed
specifically at children.[4]
Several consumer advocacy groups objected to marketing of the
thong, claiming they are too sexually suggestive.
Some county and municipal governments in the United States have
passed legislation forbidding G-string swimsuits in public, but
most others do not have a problem with sunbathers in thongs, so
long as they don't engage in unsavory activities.
The United
States Supreme Court held in Erie v.
Pap's A. M. that a city ordinance requiring erotic dancers to
wear g-strings was constitutional.
[
edit] In other
languages
In Australia only the
terms G-string and G-banger are used for both
G-strings and thongs, as thongs are a type 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).
In Israel the G-string is
called "Khutini" (חוטיני),
from the word Khut, which means String.
[
edit] See also
[
edit] Notes
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