it's a choice

Are boxer panties sexy? Gay Twitter™ is enthralled in debate

By · Updated on January 26, 2024
Cotton boxer briefs
Screenshot from Triniful

Cotton boxers can be a red flag.

But what if we told you they are getting a makeover?

Triniful, an LGBTQ+ clothing brand with tons of sexy attire, is selling…boxer panties! Well, technically they’re called “Breathable Home Boxer Briefs;” but these are panties, girl!

The debate on Gay Twitter™ started with a simple question: “Would y’all wear boxer panties?”

It didn’t take long for the discourse to follow. Talk about stirring the pot!

At their core, boxer panties are contradictory undergarments. Cotton boxers are bunchy; panties are skimpy. Panties are flattering from behind; boxers are not.

We could go all day.

And they did.

Underwear holds a special place in gay fashion. Beginning in the 1920s, jockstraps became popular among gay men who enjoyed erotic Tom of Finland drawings and softcore male “fitness” magazines (filled with photos of bodybuilders in jockstraps along with what surely were important workout tips).

Over the last couple of decades, gay-affiliated fashion brands–Andrew Christian, AussieBum, etc—and mainstream brands like Calvin Klein and Versace have all incorporated more erotic offerings into their underwear designs.

With that said, thongs and panties remain a little risqué. Unlike jockstraps and even singlets, they’re not appropriated from sports culture. They’re subversive, buried away in gay and queer subculture.

That’s not to say it was always that way. In fact, cavemen wore little g-strings…made of animal hides and barkcloth. Comfy! (No wonder why male underwear didn’t become normalized until the late 19th century. Too many bad memories.)

Boxers, meanwhile, emerged in the early 20th century. Then briefs were introduced in the 1930s-50s.

Related:

Quiz: Can we guess what kind of underwear you’re wearing?

Ready for some fun? Find out if we’ve got your undies game figured out with our “Can We Guess What’s Under Your Pants?” quiz.

Throughout the rest of the 1990s, and well into the 2000s, the boxer brief was a classic male, All-American look. Just take a peek at old Calvin Klein and Abercrombie ads.

Boxer panties combine that cologne-infused heteronormativity with sexual decadence. As gays, we like to bend the rules. And they certainly do that.

So in conclusion, boxer panties are…brilliant?

Or maybe they’re unnecessary?

The tea is endless.

Scroll down for more reaction to our next brilliant slay…

Related:

PHOTOS: 25 vintage male underwear ads & a brief history on undies

Did you know the first known pair of underwear can be dated all the way back to 3300 B.C.?

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