Fellow Preen contributor Elliott Hay and I offered to host the actress Kristina Wong, on her first day in Manila. Within 15 minutes of meeting on the top floor of Megamall, we decided to go into a professional photo studio and get some boudoir (read: nude) portraits taken. For future reference, this is a fast-acting bonding activity.
I was the first to strip down, which was strange to me but not to my friends who were trained in theater. And though neither of them were hesitant to bare their bodies, they were both sheepish about their “ugly” underwear, also known as granny panties. Or in Elliott’s case, “the guy’s version” of granny panties. Both undergarments looked fine to me, but I suppose they were apologizing for the matronly look of full-coverage. Turns out, they had nothing to be sorry for. In fact, granny panties are enjoying a rise in popularity, especially among young women. According to a recent New York Times article, the research company NPD Group found that “sales of thongs decreased by 7 percent over the last year” while granny panty sales “have grown…17 percent.” The Huffington Post attributes the trend to a change in beauty standards, stating, “women are dressing and shopping for themselves, rather than for men.”
Thank God. With fashion tastemakers like the Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine, Girl With Curves’ Tanesha Awasthi, and nerd-chic shoe designer Rachel Antonoff encouraging young women to divert their sartorial efforts away from the male gaze, the winds of change have long been overdue. Let’s not forget how Sky Ferreira’s newest ad for Jimmy Choo has her in nothing but a lilac pair of the said undergarment.
Women are shunning the expectation to present themselves as sexual objects, and getting comfortable in their own skin and self-worth, ditching G-strings for pieces like Ten Undies’ High knickers, Hello Beautiful’s cotton lingerie, and Me and You’s sold-out Feminist Underwear.
Unfortunately, there are still a lot of setbacks from supporters of the status quo. While many are quick to claim a nominal alliance with feminists, the flimsy solidarity is sustained for only as long as it’s familiar, innocuous, and convenient. In many cases, Filipino public figures will debase entire swathes of the population, just to get a cheap laugh. Cha goes as far to accuse the patriarchal media of “promoting a culture of hate.”
Though the battle against sexual oppression and overall ignorance is exhausting, it is a worthwhile fight that any of us can contribute to. Man or woman, it can be as simple as unabashedly wearing a fabulous pair of granny panties because hey, why should anyone care about what I wear?
Art by Dorothy Guya