# What exactly are "wife beaters"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2002, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487 "2002-11-12T22:23:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/1 "2002-11-12T22:23:07Z")
They’re an article of clothing, apparently popular in the hip hop community, and I get the impression I should know exactly what they are and I see them all the time, but don’t know them by that name. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/2 "2002-11-12T22:26:31Z")
It’s the kind of men’s undershirt that has no sleeves and big armholes. Starting a few years ago, I started reading that they were called “wife-beaters.” I assume it is some kind of ethnic or class slur. I don’t know when the term “wife-beater” was coined. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/3 "2002-11-12T22:29:00Z")
FWIW, when I put “wife beaters” in Google, I unsurprisingly got a number of battered-women-related sites and a few clothing sites that lead me to believe that a wife beater is basically a tank top. If that’s the case - what’s the difference between a wife beater and a tank top? ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/4 "2002-11-12T22:32:34Z")
AFAIK it just means a sleeveless undershirt. The “wifebeater” thing is to conjure up a “White Trash” image. On a few occasions that I’ve worn them, I’ve warned my wife to watch out… ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/5 "2002-11-12T22:35:37Z")
I get the feeling “wife beater” comes from (of course) episodes of _COPS_, where the guy in the domestic violence call is always wearing either that for a shirt (or is shirtless), and is more often than not barefoot. ---
**Author:** ![absimia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bbe5ce/32.png) [@absimia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/absimia)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/6 "2002-11-12T22:38:44Z")
**Wordman** -WifeBeaters tend to be tight. They stretch out and have a slight vertical ribbing sort of look. They are my undershirt of choice. I would agree with the others that I think they do conjure up the White Trash or Hispanic Trash type image. Muy macho. (not that I really give off that vibe in them…sadly) As I recall, Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire wore wifebeaters… ---
**Author:** ![absimia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bbe5ce/32.png) [@absimia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/absimia)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/7 "2002-11-12T22:41:43Z")
Ooops. I just did a google. I was wrong about Marlon. I guess I just turned his ripped teeshirt at the end into a wifebeater…in my mind. Sorry. Absimia ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/8 "2002-11-12T22:50:50Z")
It _is_ a tank top, basically. I believe it got it’s name from a long standing stereotype of an alcoholic husband: dirty undershirt, beer gut, unshaven, beer-swilling alcoholic prone to sudden, violent rages. It’s an old depiction dating – think of an evil version of the Honeymooners. Strangely, I’ve only seen the depcition featuring white men in a “poor white trash” kind of way. And for some reason, I always think of the archetype as being from the 1940s. Extremely common on TV and in movies. And, of course, now that I need one I can’t think of an example… ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/9 "2002-11-13T02:17:23Z")
Was Col. Cascio’s father in “Fail Safe” wearing a wife-beater? Whether he was or not, that’s the way I remember him. And he wasn’t poor white trash. He was. . . Dare I say it? . . . . . . Eye-talian! ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/10 "2002-11-13T16:01:50Z")
AKA “Guniea vests”, “Guniea shirts”, “Ginzo shirts”. It’s conicidental that this follows Mjollnir’s post. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/11 "2002-11-13T17:50:55Z")
My mom always called those “Italian dress shirts” ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/12 "2002-11-13T18:00:49Z")
[http://wife-beaters.com/shirts.html](http://wife-beaters.com/shirts.html) I went to a halloween party as white-trash. I wore a “wife-beater” (white, tight, ribbed tank top) with pizza sauce stains and cigarrette holes. ---
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/13 "2002-11-13T18:17:55Z")
Funny, I was going to say that Stanley Kowalski wore one in Street Car named desire but I guess he didn’t. I am pretty sure (hey almost positive) that DeNiro wore one as Jake LaMotta in Ragging Bull. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/14 "2002-11-13T18:24:45Z")
I am thinking of Onslow, the inlaw of Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced ‘bouquet’) in “Keeping Up Appearances”. [http://kuacentral.com/pics/imagepages/image7.htm](http://kuacentral.com/pics/imagepages/image7.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/15 "2002-11-13T18:27:28Z")
Watch an episode of COPS, and you will likely see some drunken twit running around wearing a wife-beater shirt. ---
**Author:** ![\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/7cd45c/32.png) [@\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Deep_F_ied)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/16 "2002-11-13T19:09:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by malaka \* > \*\*[http://wife-beaters.com/shirts.html](http://wife-beaters.com/shirts.html) > > I went to a halloween party as white-trash. I wore a “wife-beater” (white, tight, ribbed tank top) with pizza sauce stains and cigarrette holes. \*\* Sounds like the one I wear every sunday, except mine isn’t a costume…how sad is that? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/17 "2002-11-13T20:30:15Z")
The east coast’s guinea vest, is the midwest’s dago T. Wifebeater is a recent appellation. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/18 "2002-11-13T21:19:18Z")
Most people I know who are versed in “hip-hop culture” insist that wife-beaters must be white. This might be a regional idea though. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/19 "2002-11-13T21:36:54Z")
The shirt or its occupant? ---
**Author:** ![EchoKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487/20 "2002-11-13T22:11:52Z")
I love the look of a wife-beater. When I was a kid,we called it a Dago-Tee. Politically incorrect, I know. It was the 60s. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-wife-beaters/136487.md?page=2)