# Should I let my 14-year old daughter get thong underwear? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436 "2010-04-17T05:15:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/41 "2010-04-17T17:40:06Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > I don’t see how having a piece of cloth jammed up between your buttcheeks could be comfortable, but to each their own. Due to whatever quirk of my anatomy (I’m guessing my big butt and relatively small waist have something to do with it), ordinary undies always end up as a much much bigger piece of cloth jammed up between my buttcheeks, which then saws back and forth every time I move my legs. Thongs stay put. I realize that most women don’t experience this problem. FWIW, I am a Delicate Flower with very strong preferences in clothing – I don’t think I currently own any pants that aren’t stretchy, for instance, and probably 80% of my tops have lycra too, including about a dozen stretch silk blouses I used to wear at the office. I may have some kind of mild sensory integration thing going on. I really, really care about comfy clothes, and thongs are required for me. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/42 "2010-04-17T18:22:02Z")
I’m not sure thongs are even all that inherently sexy. I mean, a lot of teen girls wore day of the week undies, right? Or cute bras. I mean, yeah, when you’re flashing a whale tail that is meant to be sexy. But if it’s a piece of clothing that no one’s going to see (unless they are in which case that’s a whole different kettle of fish thong or no), I’m not sure if it’s necessarily going to “sexualize her.” I mean, life will sexualize her. I’m sure to some degree she already is sexual–and I don’t mean sexually active, so much as we all are sexually beings, inherently. A little off topic but I always hear people kvetching about how inappropriate kiddie fashion is and “Ah, raiding Lolita’s closet!” (another pet peeve of mine–equating “sexy” teen fashion with the Nabakov novel). But most of the kids I notice on the street look pretty age appropriate to me. Where are these slutted up eight year olds that the media loves to decry? Do they really exist? ---
**Author:** ![kombatminipig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/43 "2010-04-17T18:22:12Z")
I’ve had a couple of girlfriends who have preferred thongs…as previously mentioned due to prevalent ass geometry of the given subjects. mmm…ass geometry… ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/44 "2010-04-17T19:05:11Z")
I switch back and forth between thongs and other varieties of underwear, but I tend to prefer thongs because they don’t move around, slide down my hips/ass, and generally cause me to worry about the state of my undergarments. If I am working out, thongs are almost mandatory; I found out the hard way in the past that excessive running, jumping or other vigorous movements will cause the underwear to slide down my butt, even when wearing form-fitting shorts/pants. Then again, all of my clothes tend to slide either down away from my waist or up away from my hips due to the nature of my waist-to-hip configuration. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/45 "2010-04-17T20:10:43Z")
I think Bob Dylan was right, ‘Yours sons and your daughters are beyond your command…’, especially by 14yrs, in the underwear department. Seriously, is there anyway to stop her? She has access to money, one assumes, and can change clothes a thousand times, in the course of the day, if she so chooses. You can be reticent, you can tell her you don’t see why she’d want to, but in the end it’s time to let her have some self expression. It will be as good an exercise for you, as for her. This doesn’t sound like a hill worth dying on, so I’d say, sure. Even though I would never wear the things myself. (Personally I don’t find that area in need of flossing, is all.) ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/46 "2010-04-17T20:33:07Z")
Is she from [Paris, France or Paris, Kentucky](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://littlepaul.com/funny/Paris,France.jpg&imgrefurl=http://littlepaul.com/funny/paris.html&usg=__rvG3bC4DYnpHzTeTLriA9JRAmpY=&h=568&w=450&sz=99&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=W3_xXh9gmRwtXM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=106&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dparis%2Bfrance%2Bparis%2Bkentucky%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4ADFA_enUS371US372%26tbs%3Disch:1)? I am so glad our girls are raised… ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/47 "2010-04-17T20:42:09Z")
> [@Sonnenstrahl](#): > > Personally, the only kind of underwear I’d wear if my mother purchased it for me is the kind that comes in packs of six from Fruit of the Loom. > > I think you’re supposed to say no, she saves up her money and buys them to rebel, you shake your head, and she discovers they’re uncomfortable anyway (because they are!). This. It’s not that wearing a thong is such a bad thing–my old officemate was pretty into them for the VPL thing without any sexy component. Your objection as a parent is what’s important. It will make her feel worth being concerned about, even if she doesn’t express that at the time. If she goes out and gets them anyway, no big deal. You caring about her = big deal. ---
**Author:** ![yuliya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/f6c823/32.png) [@yuliya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yuliya)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/48 "2010-04-17T22:29:19Z")
FTR I wore thongs before 14 and I turned out fine. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_Cello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Clark\_Cello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_Cello)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/49 "2010-04-17T22:45:16Z")
I’m certain that it is a sign that I am hopelessly old fashioned and prudish, but I have a 14 year old daughter, and I would say no. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/50 "2010-04-17T22:53:28Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > No, the sexualization of the mass culture and populace must be prevented even if it’s one small personal battle like this. Are you always on? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/51 "2010-04-17T23:10:04Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Unfortunately quite true. Spengler foresaw in 1918 that Western civilization would gradually degenerate into more primitive attitudes on sex in the next few centuries. Observe how the moral decency of the Roman Republic degenerated into the notorious hedonism of the later Principate. lol Y’know, **Curtis** , there are a lot of us who think that religion is primitive. There’s nothing primitive at all about coming to terms with our sexuality. Pretending it doesn’t exist- that’s primitive. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/52 "2010-04-17T23:11:57Z")
Curtis is a 94 year-old fundamentalist in a 13 year-old’s body. Not an insult, just saying! ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/53 "2010-04-17T23:14:44Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Is she from [Paris, France or Paris, Kentucky](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://littlepaul.com/funny/Paris,France.jpg&imgrefurl=http://littlepaul.com/funny/paris.html&usg=__rvG3bC4DYnpHzTeTLriA9JRAmpY=&h=568&w=450&sz=99&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=W3_xXh9gmRwtXM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=106&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dparis%2Bfrance%2Bparis%2Bkentucky%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4ADFA_enUS371US372%26tbs%3Disch:1)? > > I am so glad our girls are raised… Oh that poor woman. Forever on the internet with her big ol panties sticking out ---
**Author:** ![Kelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@Kelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/54 "2010-04-17T23:19:33Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Having sex and having a romantic partner are separate things. But even still the average age for ending your virginity is around 15 if I remember correctly. “Average” age is 15? Meaning half the cases fall below and half above? I wonder where all those 12 and 13-year-olds are having sex. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/55 "2010-04-17T23:24:34Z")
> [@Kelby](#): > > “Average” age is 15? Meaning half the cases fall below and half above? > > I wonder where all those 12 and 13-year-olds are having sex. I am pretty sure the average age is actually 17. I am as citeless as he is though. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/56 "2010-04-17T23:27:34Z")
Is she planning to climb Everest in them? ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/57 "2010-04-17T23:29:03Z")
Would _you_ want to make it to the top and have a visible panty line in your dozens of proceeding interviews? I’m a guy (ya rly), so I assume the answer is yes. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/58 "2010-04-17T23:52:24Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > lol > > Y’know, **Curtis** , there are a lot of us who think that religion is primitive. There’s nothing primitive at all about coming to terms with our sexuality. Pretending it doesn’t exist- that’s primitive. Unlike having restraint and recognizes the benefits of an orderly family structure and abstience like our grandparents we want gratification just like chimpanzees or cavemen. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/59 "2010-04-17T23:56:03Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Would _you_ want to make it to the top and have a visible panty line in your dozens of proceeding interviews? > > I’m a guy (ya rly), so I assume the answer is yes. 😛 God damn it, I was right the first time. The ending should be “no”. I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T, I mean S-M-A-R-T. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436/60 "2010-04-18T00:04:56Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Unlike having restraint and recognizes the benefits of an orderly family structure and abstience like our grandparents we want gratification just like chimpanzees or cavemen. If you think that’s the case, you obviously don’t know all that much about history. Besides, this isn’t a thread about hypotheticals – it’s about parenting. And when you start lecturing people are their parenting skills, **Curtis** , that’s a wee over-the-top. Someday, **Curtis** , you’re going to realize that _you don’t know everything_. As for the OP, can you go into more detail about your daughter’s request? Did she say why? Does she regularly wear low-rise jeans (well, I wouldn’t let my fourteen-year-old wear low-rise-jeans, but I figured I’d ask) When I was fourteen, I started wearing bikinis, so I don’t see how a thong is THAT big of a deal, especially since it’s underwear, and no one’s going to see them. (hopefully). But I guess it would depend on your daughter, and again, her reason. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-let-my-14-year-old-daughter-get-thong-underwear/536436.md?page=4)