June 22, 2011

This article — "Social impact of thong underwear" — "is in a list format that may be better presented using prose."

"You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate."

Ha ha. I love Wikipedia. Only Wikipedia talks to me like that. If appropriate... convert this article to prose... this article might be better using prose.

Why am I reading this thing about thong? Oh, it's something Carol Herman said in that post about Rep. Hasting:
Back in the old days they said "men chased their secretaries around their desk."

But when I worked, I discovered most women wore low cut dresses; and made themselves as obvious as Monica Lewinsky did.

How did Monica do it? She turned her fat ass towards the president's face. She lifted the top of her thong up over her skirt's waistband. And, she snapped it.
I'm not always sure what Carol Herman is driving at, but this provoked me. I knew Monica Lewinsky showed her thong to President Clinton. But did she snap it? I don't remember the snap. Showing the thong to the President is extremely daring. But snapping? That seems mental! You could try Googling that, but you might end up with repetitions of the myth. It's not in the Starr report, which says "she raised her jacket in the back and showed him the straps of her thong underwear, which extended above her pants." Showed. Didn't snap. Didn't even lift.

But now I'm here at the "Social impact of thong underwear," and — sorry! — I'm not translating it into "prose" for you. But what the hell is this, and why does it get an encyclopedia article? Britannica was never this way!
Psychologist Joann Ellison Rodgers conjectures that "wearing thong bikinis is adaptive among teenage girls because it attracts potential mates". Reporters Alison Pollet and Page Hurwitz observed about that "the most ubiquitous stripper-inspired purchase a girl can make is a thong, a product with a heritage in exotic dancing". The 2000s has seen a rise in the popularity of thongs among younger girls, who have been dubbed "thong feminists" by comedian Janeane Garofalo....

In August 2007 a man in Texas was arrested for being naked in his own backyard. He reported that he was in fact wearing a thong and not naked....
And on and on, with random incidents of thong in the news.
After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, thousands of thongs were included in relief packages to Sri Lanka.
Oh, no! It's prose, though, isn't it? It's just not the kind of intellectual analysis I was hoping for.

103 comments:

TMink said...

How fat is Carol Herman's ass? I found that really offensive, she calls herself a feminist and she is shaming a woman for her body? What a hypocrit!

Trey

gerry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gerry said...

Thong. Intellectual analysis.

Both terms in the same paragraph.

Mind-boggling.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I think it would be better in iambic pentameter.

Fred4Pres said...

I do not find piercings, tattoos, or thongs attractive. Let alone "thong snaps!" Ugh.

Fred4Pres said...

Prose or no prose.

Bob said...

he 2000s has seen a rise in the popularity of thongs among younger girls, who have been dubbed "thong feminists" by comedian Janeane Garofalo....

...who could probably be dubbed a "dirty sweatshirt feminist" based on what she usually wears in appearances on talk shows.

Shouting Thomas said...

I think that the real issue is to avoid wearing the same panties your mom wore.

Thus, girls prior to 1965 wore big briefs. Hippie girls began to wear bikinis. Then Gen X girls donned thongs.

The statement being made is:

"We're going to reject the way our Mommy and Daddy did sex because that is the cause of everything that is wrong with the world."

"We're going to reinvent sex in a new way that breaks completely with the past and there won't ever be any problems again."

Every generation thinks that it invented sex and that the previous generation did it wrong, or were ghastly Puritans.

The Drill SGT said...

If appropriate... convert this article to prose... this article might be better using prose.

I'd thing an article on Thongs would be better done as images, after all, one picture, etc, etc...

JAL said...

Prose schmoze.

Your first errror is this:

But what the hell is this, and why does it get an encyclopedia article? Britannica was never this way!

You seem to be operating under the delusion that Wikipedia publishes "encycopedia articles."


wv eisess
Gollum's summer treat of choice.

The Drill SGT said...

Shouting Thomas said...
I think that the real issue is to avoid wearing the same panties your mom wore.


misstated :)

The real issue is to avoid wearing as much panty as your mom wore.

next stop: Commando

the generation after is going to have a problem with that. unless they go to Burqa's

retro

Scott M said...

comedian Janeane Garofalo....

Can someone...anyone...please point to a period of time during which Jeneane Garofalo was a comedian (or comedienne) of any kind?

Chip S. said...

Don't say "fat ass." Say callipygian form.

Trooper York said...

I am willing to give Carol the benefit of the doubt. Everybody gets one.

Then it's straight to the photon torpedos. Just sayn'

edutcher said...

Convert to prose? Was it in iambic pentameter or dactylic hexameter?

Or haiku?

And shout may be right women about not wearing their mother's drawers, but I seem to remember the various iterations of women's nether garments being marketed as ever more "cheeky", and you can't get much past the thong on that.

PS As to behinds, I never thought Monica was all that bad. Fuller and rounder than the usual fashion model, but she never seemed fat.

WRT flashing her thong, she seems to have studied her prey carefully; I recall an article describing Willie's mother as a "hip-swinging, shoulder-baring temptress", so Miss Monica may have given the Serial Rapist in Chief a taste of his own medicine.

And, yes, I do recall a couple of references at the time to the snap, possibly in the same article.

Perhaps the origin of, "Oh, snap".

bagoh20 said...

I think there is a fuzzy, but real, generational component to tats, piercings, and thongs. Younger guys love it, but a lot of us older guys are really repulsed.

I often see a beautiful woman and then notice one or more of these and my visceral reaction is just like I saw them eat a booger.

It conjures up thoughts of her being somehow defective, dirty, and silly.

Oh, by the way, those are bad things in my mind. You have to be clear these days.

Anonymous said...

How about a Haiku

Thong on my bottom
Look at me, look at me now
You horny old goat

Toad Trend said...

Thongs, tramp stamps, really no difference.

Shouting Thomas nails it, again. Winner winner chicken dinner.

I would also like to pile on Scott M's point regarding the acerbic 'supposed' comedienne that goes by 'Janeane Garofalo'.

Unfunny? Yes.

Congenital PMS? Certainly.

bagoh20 said...

When I see a thong, I imagine they have toilet paper hanging out of their pants, and often for all practical purposes, that's exactly what it is.

Hoosier Daddy said...

I just stick with tattoos. No piercings or thongs for me.

Tom said...

Just remember that every time you see a "This article can be improved by..." tag on a Wikipedia article, it means some insider (casual readers don't know about tags) thought the article should be improved but was too lazy or self-important to do it him/herself.

Ann Althouse said...

Everyone easily gets to the wisecrack: I think it would be better in poetry. But let's seem some hard work. Take that raw material, and make it poetry. I almost feel like doing that. It's great material.

Christopher said...

Never date a woman who always wears thongs as she'll be prone to infections in particularly sensitive areas.

Anonymous said...

I tried, but apparently failed.

I guess I'm no Emily Frost.

Michael K said...

I think the underwear evolution concept is a pretty good explanation. I have also thought that there was an element of not wanting panty lines to show in tight clothes. My two younger daughters both wear thong underwear although I haven't noticed if the older one has gone back to more standard garments since being married. Both are slim and pretty and that is also a factor.

Chip S. said...

But let's seem some hard work.

Screw homework. It's summer.

bagoh20 said...

Regardless of all its defects, and they are legion, I just love that Wikipedia exists, and I doubt it could be done much better considering the breadth, which is incredible.

I spend many hours per week reading it. It's probably my primary source of information and learning. It's incredibly democratic, and is as close as ever there has been to book a of mankind.

In addition, it's a great complement to this blog which often sends me there to find out what the hell someone here is talking about. Wonderful combo.

Carol_Herman said...

"SNAPPING." Females remember when they were kids. And, they got their first brassiere. Which they wore to school. With a white sweater on top.

You knew you got attention when a boy came by and "snapped" the strap in back!

"Snapping." Monica snapped it.

She lifted it up so the president could see her thong was black. And, when she let go, she didn't just let it go down ... as if she was tugging at the back of her skirt "by mistake."

I don't do poetry. Prose, on the other hand, works through my fingers. Even though they say "stream of consciousness" is for talk.

It's really just for memories.

And, you bet. Women, today, are much more advanced than using their eyeballs over their fans. When the quickness of the fan motion showed you they were "hot."

Can't fool me!

Women who can't garner attention when they are young, grow up to think they're ugly.

Hoosier Daddy said...

"...My two younger daughters both wear thong underwear although I haven't noticed if the older one has gone back to more standard garments since being married..."

Is that something you should be noticing?

bagoh20 said...

The next step will be for women to wear baby pacifiers as underwear. Minimalism is where it's at.

Carol_Herman said...

TMink. My ass is small. Which is a surprise. Given how often I'm sitting on it.

And, slow down TMink. I'm not a feminist! Never was. And, when I was young, Marilyn Monroe was the woman I wanted to be.

TMink, I don't think you get out much.

PaulV said...

wedgies

WV-axial

Do an axial wearing a thong you get a wedgie.

Carol_Herman said...

When I was a kid my panties were labeled Monday through Sunday. I kid you not! They were sold by the box.

I got to wear them before I could fit into a bra. (Which is a whole other story.)

And, my favorite joke was about a little girl who came home from school with a fistful of nickels. Her mom asked "Where did you get those?" And, the girl responded, at school. Boys gave me a nickel to show them I could stand on my head."

So, the mom laughed and said "all the boys wanted to see were your underpants." And, the little girl responded: "I know that! That's why I took them off, first."

edutcher said...

Chip S. said...

Don't say "fat ass." Say callipygian form.

The issue is there's a difference between fat, and firm, round, and full. The culture doesn't buy the idea a woman can be well-endowed below the waist, just above it.

bagoh20 said...

I think there is a fuzzy, but real, generational component to tats, piercings, and thongs. Younger guys love it, but a lot of us older guys are really repulsed.

I think there really is an aesthetic issue younger guys may not yet realize. A lot of hippie girls actually looked like so many bags of dirty laundry and guys who got all hot over them 40 years ago wouldn't give a second look to one done up like that today (yeah, I know...).

In the same way, ink or piercings on a woman can look good if done right. How much and where really do make a difference

Janeane Garofalo's tattoos, as an example, define the word, "skank".

Same with thongs. For a young guy, it's all about exposure. A little older and the guy is more interested in how it looks on that particular behind.

WV "stinksmo" (no kidding) the difference between a dead fish and a live one.

bagoh20 said...

Ok, Carol, that made me laugh out loud, and I want to thank you.

On your other point, It would be embarrassing to be caught wearing panties labeled "Friday" on Monday moring, aye?

PaulV said...

Do not do poetry. Does one go to college to learn how to speak in prose?

Meade said...

News from yesteryear: Good-as-gold advice to a confirmed thong-wearer.

PS: Thanks again, guys. Best wardrobe advisers EVAH!

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Trooper York said...

You are not being fair to Trey. He is an expert in ladies wear. Especially cat suits!

Just sayn'

DADvocate said...

Ugh. Butt floss. Seems there would always be a brown area and they would be uncomfortable.

Of course, looking at some of the shoes women wear, comfort isn't a concern. My daughter says girls wear them with certain outfits because they don't show panty lines.

Shouting Thomas said...

The next step will be for women to wear baby pacifiers as underwear. Minimalism is where it's at.

Who knows?

Maybe the next step will be chastity and cotton briefs with a high back.

The music goes round and round...

bagoh20 said...

Meade, That outfit clearly shows why gun control is deeply irresponsible. You just can't do that outfit without the gun, except maybe in Phrisco.

Carol_Herman said...

Thongs will fall by the wayside, the same way girdles did. My mom wore one of those contraptions. She even asked for help when she was zippering herself in.

And, she wore stockings. Sometimes with black seams in the back. And, to hold up the stockings, she had to use the "prongs" that came attached to her girdle. Pantyhose hadn't been invented till later.

And, until you're in a dress or skirt, and the panty hose don't stay up ... so you're walking around with less than form fitting panty hose on, you haven't lived.

Shouting Thomas said...

There once was a girl from New York
Who plugged her crack with a cork
She was doing it wrong
She couldn't take in my shlong
Works better if she'd just wear a thong


What's my prize?

Chip S. said...

Are we certain that Monica was wearing a thong? Isn't it possible that on an ample-bottomed woman regular panties would look like a thong? NTTAWWT

bagoh20 said...

"Roses are red violets are blue.
I put a string up my ass,
and I did it for you."


Like a thong, that pretty much covers the important parts.

Ann Althouse said...

Wow. Meade, they were all rooting for you!

Ann Althouse said...

@Shouting Thomas you went with AABBB, but it was other than that a limerick. What's going on?!!

Should be AABBA.

Shouting Thomas said...

Jesus, there are rules to Limericks?

chuckR said...

Psychologist Joann Ellison Rodgers conjectures that "wearing thong bikinis is adaptive among teenage girls because it attracts potential mates".

So does not wearing them.

But Carol Herman said it better in her joke.

Scott M said...

Jesus, there are rules to Limericks?

Yes. You have to mention Nantucket.

Blue@9 said...

See, this is why men always win.

Not only are girls wearing thongs, but they want to wear the tiniest underwear possible.

It's good to be a man.

Shouting Thomas said...

OK, proper rhyme scheme accomplished:

There once was a girl from New York
Who plugged her crack with a cork
She couldn't take in my shlong
She switched to a thong
Now she's squealing all night for my pork!


You're right, Althouse, that is better.

I'm writing a song about gasoline right now. Can you think of any good rhymes for "gasoline?"

Shouting Thomas said...

Applause! Prizes!

Tight Ass, what do you think?

Leland said...

Hey thong underwear... their body, their choice.

Forget prose. Just use chant.

Toad Trend said...

I once met a girl from Hong Kong
Who wore an old bra as a thong
She straddled the cups
In between hiccups
I could see she was packing a schlong

The Drill SGT said...

Can you think of any good rhymes for "gasoline?"

New Or'leans

Chip S. said...

Neoprene.

Consider the possibilities.

Anonymous said...

trampoline
Pass the beans

Toad Trend said...

Vaseline.

Anonymous said...

ass fo' Sheen (Charlie)

Herb said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rabel said...

"I think it would be better in poetry. But let's seem some hard work."

No need to reinvent the wheel. Or do any hard work. Heavens!

Google "the independent Bill's thang and Monica's thong". Without the quotes.

virgil xenophon said...

LOL. Somehow I think this thread is moving in a direction Ann didn't intend and/or foresee..

Anonymous said...

Lasso Queen

Anonymous said...

A__hole clean?

Sorry, I'll stop now. Back to work.

Ralph L said...

Shouting: Vasoline

How can women stand wearing synthetic underwear? Don't they like to feel "fresh," as the ads say?

If you sunbathe in a thong, you get a than line. Not attractive at all.

I remember Monica snapping her thong at the Big He, but who knows where I heard it.

Hoosier Daddy said...

"...If you sunbathe in a thong, you get a than line. Not attractive at all..."

What the hell is wrong with some of you men? You should just turn in your man card right now.

rhhardin said...

Degan McDowell, a Fox News babe on Imus, says thongs are for defeating panty lines.

I never minded panty lines, but that's a different era.

At that time I wondered, out loud, about the universal visibility through work blouses of the backs of bras, that is, when that was the style. Everything else seemed to be high culture, and here was pure functional.

I suggested, as a speculation, that it was to suggest that the bra comes off, so as to raise it as a thought.

The thought had already come up, though. We're dealing with males. Useless addition.

The Crack Emcee said...

Reporters Alison Pollet and Page Hurwitz observed about that "the most ubiquitous stripper-inspired purchase a girl can make is a thong, a product with a heritage in exotic dancing". The 2000s has seen a rise in the popularity of thongs among younger girls, who have been dubbed "thong feminists" by comedian Janeane Garofalo....

I really don't have to comment on this, do I? Is there anything that needs to be said that we don't know already? Here - two words: "stripper-inspired." Here's two more: "Janeane Garofalo." Here, let's do this:

"the most ubiquitous stripper-inspired purchase a girl can make,..."

It's just sad, man. it's just sad.

deborah said...

@virgil: oh, yes she did. NTTAWWT

deborah said...

pristine
crepe de chine

LL said...

Those used to be stripper clothes. Funny how that stuff is now mainstream.

I don't care for it but nobody really asked me and I don't want to do anything about it other than quietly express my opinion.

Regarding teens (especially young teens) wearing them. Is this really necessary? I guess this completes the oversexualization of girls.

Ralph L said...

Butadiene
Cuisine

Hoosier, it draws attention to the string that was wedged in the ass, away from the ass itself. Much prefer an all over tan or no tan at all, and male.

I had no idea Freeman was so "fast." Moved in on the first date?

Carol_Herman said...

Thongs in a "relief" package, would work for the gaza flotilla, too. They can always be used as sling shots.

JAL said...

He reported that he was in fact wearing a thong and not naked....

hehe

Was in Key West last year.

As we walked away from the Southernmost Point (which of course, it is not) jogging down the street towards us gleaming in sweat and baby oil was a 50s something vegan looking guy in a


-- well, how does one describe what he was in --


gold lamé thong is close.

Guess he times his runs for the pleasure of the crowds. The black gals still in line at the monument behind us met and probably exceeded his expectations.

But he wasn't nekkid.

wv reabl
Not confrmst.

Ralph L said...

JAL, he wasn't interested in the gals.

yashu said...

Edward Hopper, Office at Night.

Carol_Herman said...

Bagoh 20. Since you asked:

"On your other point, It would be embarrassing to be caught wearing panties labeled "Friday" on Monday moring, aye?"

My parents were thrilled I could read. What kid would put on a pair of embroidered panties ... with the days of the week clearly spelled out ... by either putting them on backwards. Or disregarding the day? My gosh, those panties were pretty.

JAL said...

C'mon Ralph ... he was interested in the shock and awe of the uptight tourists.

Any other responses were just the frosting.

wv poloders
There's something there.

Cedarford said...

Thong underwear will last because it effectively ended the "panty line" issue with women.

However, *big eye roll* for the strident little thong feminists that wear thong bikinis to attract guys and then insist that *spit!* men have NO RIGHT to treat them as if they were sex objects.

Jeremy said...

Speaking of the ace flock of GOP candidates floating their intentions...here's a news flash about the Proncess:

WASHINGTON – Amid diminishing media interest, Sarah Palin has quit her high-profile bus tour halfway through and returned to Alaska with her family.

A winner never quits and a quiter never...oh, never mind.

Jeremy said...

I meant "Princess," but Proncess does have kind of a nice ring to it.

I also like Sairhead.

Known Unknown said...

My wife mainly wears thongs for the panty-line aversion feature.

There's apparently a Victoria's Secret style that she says is even more comfortable than some regular brief-type underwear.

And, yes, I'm okay with it.

Carol_Herman said...

Sarah Palin does not live in a bus!

Alaska, right now, is at its most beautiful! And, for relief, the Palin's don't have to worry that Joe McGinniss is camped out next door.

I still have my Ross Perot lawn sign. I wouldn't mind if Sarah Palin runs as an independent in 2012. Heck, I could put out "UNITED WE STAND" ... and, then "ONE NATION"

Bet she does better than Ross Perot!

While the stupid party, in 1976, told Ronald Reagan to go and take a hike.

You don't need pundits when you're at the race track, either. Betting's no fun if your heart's not in the transaction. Then? Well, every race would like just like the other.

While IF Sarah Palin runs ... and, then if she wins? The media heads on TV will explode just like Gallagher when he's hammering away on watermelons.

If you're in the wholesale tee-shirt business ... you'll be able to sell the Hanes white ones ... with red splats on them. Maybe, a few black pits? Because to viewers, Gallagher always brought on laughter.

Sarah can count on me. I'll vote for her. And, I'll put out a lawn sign. (Perot's were made out of plastic. They withstand aging better than cardboard.)

mccullough said...

Does Sarah Palin wear thong underwear?

Tarzan said...

PS As to behinds, I never thought Monica was all that bad. Fuller and rounder than the usual fashion model, but she never seemed fat.

I always thought she was a babe. Warm and cushy, but not fat. Never understood the 'OMG she's so fat and ugly!' business. She's neither, not by a long shot.

Me, I can't wait for a return to a more Victorian sense of fashion. I saw these two girls on the bus one, from a Catholic mission in the Boston area, both decked out from neck to ankle in some lacy dress thing.

I almost freekin' died. Sexiest thing I'd seen in a while!

Loren Ibsen said...

Thong-snapping was just Monica's variation on the old anti-smoking campaign.

Carol said...

"Amid diminishing media interest,"

Wow, will wonders never cease. Did they get all confused by Michelle Bachmann??

WineSlob said...

Clinton's Swan Song was Strong:
"Was it So Wrong to Long for a Thong?"
Monica's Thong was Revealed
Cigar Fell Out as She Kneeled
And Cheech-and-Chonged Bubba's Dong Like a Bong

Steven said...

Amid diminishing media interest, Sarah Palin has quit her high-profile bus tour halfway through and returned to Alaska with her family.

Yeah, see, the thing is, the tour had no predetermined schedule and no preannounced length. So claiming she quit "halfway through" is an obvious lie.

TMink said...

Carol Herman, I don't think you think much.

Trey

Jose_K said...

Strippers? Here, in Venezuela women use dental floss. Thiner than a g string. And when i said women i ean from 15 to 80. Yes, i saw a 80 yo , at least , with the thong half way. Fat women and slim women use dental floss.. I saw it for the first time in 1985, in a street of a tourist destination city.
And not only in the street at the university ,since most women use to the hip? jeans or pants or see trough , they show theirs thongs, g strings , dental floss and most of the time their a..c..

ampersand said...

Could be that Clinton was being honest,but mistaken when he said he never had sex with that woman.

From his viewpoint,he only saw the tops of their heads.

William said...

I'm of the wrong generation to pass judgement on these styles, but I will say that the whale tail that women exhibit when they bend over has a certain amount of erotic frisson. I don't get tattoos at all. Why anyone would want to inscribe a Chinese proverb on their butt is beyond understanding. I don't think piercings are attractive either. However, if you are of a certain age, there is a certain amount of melancholy in observing them and knowing that you will never experience oral sex with a woman with a pierced tongue.....Pantyhose were the bane of my generation.

Carol_Herman said...

Before there were thongs there were french bikini panties at Bloomingdale's.

Thongs present a problem, too, if you like wearing low slung jeans.

Also, if a pair slides between the couch pillows ... and, later your wife asks you about them ... You can say "Johnny was looking for his sling shot" before he left.

You can't claim it's a holder for your cell phone, though.

Carol_Herman said...

The Starr Report (like the Warren Commission Report, before it). Depended on evidence collected under "cross" examination. And, taken down by a trained stenographer.

I didn't even know Monica kept her jacket on. She was indoors. And, the Oval Office has most men in shirt sleeves.

The "other" inconvenience ... is that for Monica to "just show" the strap on her underpants ... you're assuming she wasn't wearing a blouse.

Which, I guess could assume why she "lifted her jacket."

But Kenneth Starr was not a rational man! Monica "snapped it."

And, I doubt she had her jacket on.

Maybe? Just the top of her blue Gap dress?

Carol_Herman said...

The first person to hear the story, that we know of, was Linda Tripp. Before she went to her friends at the CIA. And, got a "wire."

In the first tellings, Monica said she "snapped" the thong's top. (And, the thong was black.)

Funny, that for the record, it's Ken Starr's report. Which ws the flipper switch that caused Newt to lose his Speaker's office. And, before he went ... the House republican from this district, James Rogan, got sent packing.

You can always tell when stories hit pay dirt. By how many politicians have to resign.

In Bill Clinton's case? He proved the direction the American public took this story.

Some politicians, when they're facing the music, are much more artful than others.

It must be that way, too, for screen tests.

Also, Monica had "knockers." So her need to turn around and snap her thong, meant that Billy Boy just didn't grab out at big tits. He had to be invited.

Roux said...

The most important event about thong underwear is that Monica Lewinski popped her Whale Tail to get Bill Clinton's attention. The rest is history.

Ignorance is Bliss said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ignorance is Bliss said...

To the tune of We Didn't Start the Fire

Impact
of the thong
Is the subject of this song
Covered ex-
tensively
Fetish in society

Sharon
Daugherty
In her book What Guys See
May have
changed the mind
So there is no panty line

White House shaken
To the core
Horny human humidor
Thong flash,
Lewinsky
Arafat, on line 3

Carol_Herman said...

Arafat wasn't on Line 3. He was in the Rose Garden.

reader_iam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.