New York, NY - If women are supposedly the squeamish sex, then why do they brave discussions of intimate topics like underwear more often than men? They shop for underwear together and compare notes about lingerie. If men are supposedly more fearless, then why are we so shy about talking about underwear? I was so grateful for a recent lesson on underwear.
While waiting for my pasta entrée to be brought up at my neighborhood Italian restaurant last night, I called up a friend, Ben, to catch up. Ben reported on his vacation. I talked about my own hiatus---a 3-week hiatus from laundry. I apprised him that tonight doing laundry was an absolute must. I told him I was wearing my “last resort” underwear: A pair 5-year-old Jockeys.
I told Ben that the holes around the waistband of my Jockeys were embarrassing when I noticed them at the gym earlier that day. Being intrepid, I asked Ben how long his underwear usually last and whether he replaces them at the first sign of holes.
He said he replaces his “generic” BVD underwear at the first signs of stress. We discussed whether it was harder to part with worn out underwear than it was with items like shirts. (We concluded that since underpants are less public we make them serve longer.) We talked about why underwear collects holes more often than other clothing. (They’re elastic and bulge.) We talked about the uneven quality of underwear and whether Calvin Kleins hold up better than Jockeys. (I say yes.) I worried about my underwear contributing to landfill. (No worries, Ben said, cotton disintegrates.) Ben was supremely pragmatic: “Do not give your used underwear to the thrift shops…No one wants them!” With generic underwear, Ben added, there are no qualms, no attachments.
This then was the crux of it: The more expensive the underwear, the harder the leave taking. Throwing out underpants that out-lived their use sounds like good self-care for the grown up man. Holey underwear is admittedly unaesthetic. Not to mention what it does to your social life. That night I did managed to do my laundry. And I threw out those old Jockeys too.
Photo by TLVshac. Creative Commons License
http://flickr.com/photos/73516598@N00/
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