G-string: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Garment consisting of a strip of cloth between the legs}}

{{for-multi|strings on musical instruments|String (music)|the orchestral suite by [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]|Air on the G String}}

{{redirect|G String|the 2020 video game|G String (video game)}}

[[File:Fine-art-buttocks.jpg|thumb|A black and white photo of a woman in a G-string]]

A '''G-string''' is a garment consisting of a narrow piece of material that barely covers the [[genitals]], a string-like piece that passes between the buttocks, and a very thin [[waistband]] around the [[Hip (anatomy)|hips]].<ref name="M-W">{{cite web|title=G-string meaning and definition|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/G-string|website=MirriamMerriam-Webster|access-date=13 February 2023}}</ref> There are designs for both women and men. Men's G-strings are similar to women's but have a front pouch that covers the genitals.<ref name="Cole">{{cite book|title=The Story of Men's Underwear|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AdtUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT242|first=Shaun|last=Cole|publisher=Parkstone International|year=2018|isbn=9781785256837|page=242}}</ref> G-strings are typically worn as underwear or [[swimsuit|swimwear]] or as part of the costume of an [[exotic dancer]].<ref name="M-W" />

G-strings are usually made of fabric,<ref name=IH>{{cite web|title=7 Things You Never Knew About G-Strings|url=https://www.insidehook.com/article/style/7-things-you-never-knew-g-strings|date=7 March 2022|website=Inside Hook}}</ref> [[lace]],<ref name=Preminger>{{cite book|title=My G-String Mother: At Home and Backstage with Gypsy Rose Lee|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZwKTFdIE5sC&pg=PA14|first=Erik Lee|last=Preminger|publisher=Frog Books|year=2004|pages=14–18|chapter=Chapter 1|isbn = 9781583940969}}</ref> [[leather]], or [[satin]]. They may serve as a [[bikini]] bottoms or they may be worn alone as [[monokini]]s or topless swimsuits. G-strings are also worn by [[go-go dancing|go-go dancers]].

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== Etymology ==

The term ''G-string'' is first attested in 1878. It originally denoted the [[Cecil Adamsloincloths]] worn by certain American Indians, authorand did not come to be used for a type of female undergarment until the blog1920s. [[The Straightsignificance Dope]],of the ''G'' is unclear. It has proposedbeen ansuggested originthat fromit "represents a euphemistic abbreviation of ''groin'',<ref>{{Cite OED|G-string|1116244313}}</ref> or else that it is short for ''[[girdle]]''; the term ''girdle-string", which'' is attested as early as 1846.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/262/what-does-the-g-in-g-string-stand-for | title = What does the G in G-string stand for? | date = 2010-09-02 | last1 = Adams | first1 = Cecil | author-link1 = Cecil Adams | website = [[The Straight Dope]] | access-date = 2014-12-21 | quote = ''Littell's Living Age'', Vol. IX, 1846: 'Their arms were a small hatchet, stuck in their girdle-string.' While that hardly proves G-string is an abbreviation of girdlestring, the fact that the latter word existed and means the same as G-string supports my conjecture that the shorter term derived from the longer. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150225024121/http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/262/what-does-the-g-in-g-string-stand-for | archive-date = 2015-02-25 | url-status = live }}</ref>

[[File:Vascular_(7453726488).jpg|thumb|Man wearing a G-string front view|179x179px]]

The etymology of the term ''G-string'' is uncertain, with the [[Merriam-Webster]] dictionary describing it as "unknown".<ref name=IH/>

[[William Safire]] in his ''Ode on a G-String'' quoted the usage of the word "G-string" for loincloth in ''[[New York Times]]''. Safire also mentions the opinion of linguist Robert Hendrickson that G (or gee) stands for [[groin]], which was a [[taboo word]] at the time.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/04/magazine/on-language-ode-on-a-g-string.html |title=On Language; Ode on a G-String |first=William |last=Safire |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 4, 1991 |access-date=2017-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331190731/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/04/magazine/on-language-ode-on-a-g-string.html |archive-date=2017-03-31 |url-status=live }}</ref> Rachel Shteir refers to Hendrickson's opinion in her book "Striptease" and adds that during the [[Great Depression]], a "G-string" was known as "the gadget", a double-entendre that referred to a handyman's "contrivance", an all-purpose word for the thing that might "fix" things.<ref name="Shteir2004">{{cite book|first=Rachel |last=Shteir|title=Striptease:The Untold History of the Girlie Show|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mn48DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA202|access-date=10 March 2013|date=1 November 2004|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-512750-8|page=202}}</ref>

[[Cecil Adams]], author of the blog [[The Straight Dope]], has proposed an origin from "[[girdle]]-string", which is attested as early as 1846.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/262/what-does-the-g-in-g-string-stand-for | title = What does the G in G-string stand for? | date = 2010-09-02 | last1 = Adams | first1 = Cecil | author-link1 = Cecil Adams | website = [[The Straight Dope]] | access-date = 2014-12-21 | quote = ''Littell's Living Age'', Vol. IX, 1846: 'Their arms were a small hatchet, stuck in their girdle-string.' While that hardly proves G-string is an abbreviation of girdlestring, the fact that the latter word existed and means the same as G-string supports my conjecture that the shorter term derived from the longer. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150225024121/http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/262/what-does-the-g-in-g-string-stand-for | archive-date = 2015-02-25 | url-status = live }}</ref>

== History ==

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| alt2 = Man wearing a black G-string, seen from the rear

| caption2 = Man wearing a black G-string

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| width = 200

}}

The G-string first appeared in costumes worn by showgirls in the United States in [[Earl Carroll]]'s productions during the 1920s,<ref>B. Foley, ''Undressed for Success: Beauty Contestants and Exotic Dancers as Merchants of Morality'', page 143, Springer, 2016, {{ISBN|9781137040893}}</ref> a period known as the [[Jazz Age]] or the [[Roaring Twenties]].<ref name="Shteir2004">{{cite book|first=Rachel |last=Shteir|title=Striptease:The Untold History of the Girlie Show|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mn48DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA202|access-date=10 March 2013|date=1 November 2004|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-512750-8|page=202}}</ref> Before the [[Great Depression]] most performers made their own G-strings or bought them from traveling salesmen, but from the 1930s they were usually purchased from commercial manufacturers of [[burlesque]] costumes.{{sfnp|Shteir|2004|page=201}} During the 1930s, the "Chicago G-string" gained prominence when worn by performers like [[Margaret Hart Ferraro|Margie Hart]]. The Chicago area was the home of some of the largest manufacturers of G-strings and it also became the center of the burlesque shows in the United States.<ref name="Shteir2004"/> Early performers of color to wear a G-string on stage included the Latina [[stripper]] Chiquita Garcia in 1934, and "Princess Whitewing", a Native American stripper near the end of the decade.{{sfnp|Shteir|2004|page=205}}

The term ''G-string'' started to appear in [[Variety (magazine)|''Variety'' magazine]] during the 1930s. In [[New York City]], G-strings were worn by female dancers at risqué [[Broadway theatre]] shows during the Jazz Age. During the 1930s and 1940s, the New York striptease shows in which G-strings were worn were described as "strong". In shows referred to as "weak" or "sweet" the stripper wore "net panties" instead. "Strong" shows usually took place only when the police were not present, and they became rarer after 1936 when [[Fiorello H. La Guardia]], the [[Mayor of New York City]], organized a series of police raids on burlesque shows<ref>{{cite book|first=Gypsy Rose|last=Lee|contributor-first=Rachel|contributor-last=Shteir|contribution=Afterword – Gypsy Rose Lee: "Striptease Intellectual"|title=The G-String Murders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WeqMAgAAQBAJ|publisher=The Feminist Press at CUNY|year=2012|isbn=9781558617612}}</ref> and closed [[strip club]]s in the city for the first time in its history. The Mayor also banned [[showgirl]]s from performing fully nude at the [[1939 New York World's Fair]].<ref name=Guarnieri>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Who Gets to Wear G-Strings Now?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/16/style/g-string-thong-trend.html|first=Mya|last=Guarnieri|date=16 July 2023}}</ref> Showgirls sometimes wore flesh-coloured G-strings toTo give the illusion that they were completely naked., showgirls sometimes wore G-strings that were flesh-coloured<ref>{{cite book|title=Showgirls of Las Vegas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EDUoFbrnPxEC&pg=PA84|first=Lisa|last=Gioia-Acres|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|date=2013|isbn=9780738596532|page=84}}</ref> or made of wool or fur to resemble pubic hair.<ref name="Shteir2004"/>

The [[American burlesque]] entertainer [[Gypsy Rose Lee]] is popularly associated with the G-string.<ref name=Quinn>{{cite book|title=Mama Rose's Turn: The True Story of America's Most Notorious Stage Mother|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRacAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA239|author=Carolyn Quinn|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|year=2013|isbn=9781617038532|page=239}}</ref> Her [[striptease]] performances often included the wearing of a G-string; in a memoir written by her son Erik Lee Preminger she is described as gluing on a black lace G-string with [[spirit gum]] in preparation for a performance.<ref name=Preminger/>