The Verdict Is In: 58% of Women Think It Should Be Socially Acceptable to Wear Men’s Underwear

Low-rise or high-waisted? Skinny jeans or boyfriend jeans? Thongs or boyshorts? When it comes to personal style, we all have our preferences — and underwear is no different. As unisex clothing becomes more commonplace, and more in vogue, we were curious to see if the trend translated for beyond outerwear. 

To find out, we asked 1,000 women whether or not they think it’s socially acceptable to wear men’s underwear — and it looks like the majority have no qualms with it.  

Read on to learn more about women’s thoughts on wearing men’s underwear, which includes: 

1. How many women think it should be socially acceptable to wear men’s underwear
2. The number of women who prefer men’s underwear over women’s underwear
3. How age impacts what women think about underwear — and what they wear 

Over Half of Women Think It Should Be Socially Acceptable to Primarily Wear Men’s Underwear

Style is all about comfort and personal preference — and when it comes to wearing men’s undies, women seem all for it. When asked if they thought it should be socially acceptable for women to primarily wear men’s underwear in place of underwear traditionally for women, 58% of respondents said yes. 

Age played a role in whether or not our respondents thought swapping men’s undies for women’s was a socially acceptable style — women ages 18–24 were the most in favor, while women over 65 were the most opposed.  

Only 8% of Women Wear Men’s Underwear in Daily Life

To get a sense of what women are actually wearing, we asked 1,000 women what type of underwear they primarily wear: women’s or men’s? Despite the fact that over half of women think it’s socially acceptable to sport men’s undies in theory, only eight percent say they primarily wear them. 

Of those who said they primarily wear men’s underwear, the majority were younger women between the ages of 18–34. Culturally, this is in step with how millennials were raised. That is, what you wear doesn’t define what you do, which dramatically opens up the realm of possibilities when it comes to what clothes you wear regardless of gender. 

But it’s still not enough to speak for all women, the majority of which seem unwilling to part with what they’re familiar with.

What Women Want: Women Still Seem to Favor Fit, Function, and Familiarity 

So, why aren’t more women who are all for wearing men’s underwear not sporting men’s styles themselves? While we can’t speak for them, it may have something to do with the fact that women’s underwear is undergoing a big shift. 

Take for example the women’s boyshort or the women’s brief. Aesthetically, these styles resemble men’s classics. From a functional standpoint, they’re all about fit and wearability — two hallmarks traditionally ascribed to men’s underwear. So, rather than making the leap from women’s to men’s underwear —  a switch that may be difficult for some women to make — why not just upgrade?  

Methodology:

This study consisted of two survey questions conducted using Google Surveys. The sample consisted of no less than 1,000 completed responses per question. Post-stratification weighting has been applied to ensure an accurate and reliable representation of the total population of women. They surveys ran between September 8th–September 10th.