Men's thermal underpants are feminine?

[Lovely Rose]

Hello everyone,

As some of you know, I live in the closet and so far I don't express myself as a crossdresser anywhere other than this website.

So here's what happened, a couple of days ago, I was with a male friend in a car, he's driving, it's the evening and the weather is freezing cold, so he opens a conversation about the weather and proceeds to ask me if I usually wear thermal underpants, so I said that I don't because they are tight and they are annoying to move around with, then he said that he fells he needs to start wearing them that because he's getting really cold but he feels that thermal underpants are too feminine and are against his masculinity. At that moment I really didn't know what to say, I was a little bit shocked, and in my mind came the thoughts of all the female apparel that used to be male-specific when they first appeared (skirts, lace, wigs... etc.)

I didn't now how to respond other than to say that it's really okay to wear them, he noticed my silence before I spoke and he seemed embarrassed so he changed the subject and we continued the evening with a cup of coffee.

Just wanted to share this with you, any comments?

Love.
Rose.

[pamela7]

i have an old pair of male thermals, and they're not that tight really; they're loose to allow air to be trapped within. Whereas leggings are tight to the legs and thus cold in cold weather! If he wants to be warm, proper mens thermals are the answer. I'd rather be colder and in legging tho', speaking for myself :-)))

[Katey888]

So Pammie's gone right for the technical warm clothing answer... I'll take a look at the masculine stereotype embarrassment aspect... :tongueout:

Rose - I guess your friend's correct in one way: those thermal undies would be right up against his "masculinity".. :lol:

I'm guessing your friend is a fairly regular guy, and that this is an insight into how 98% of guys think and feel (remember everyone: however much you may flash your man-card here and insist that you're just a regular guy - apart from this - that is far, far from reality and you just don't feel the same as 'them'... :))

The pause and silence is funny... You're partly thinking about how much you know about femininity - maybe a little unsettled that your friend has expressed his horror that he should wear something approaching feminine... :eek:
And he's probably wondering if you're now thinking of him as less masculine because of what he thinks about thermal undies.. ha ha... too funny... but very typical...

This reminds me of that great 'pillow' moment between Steve Martin and John Candy...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2pu0m9iTo4

Did you talk football over coffee...? :D

Katey x

[pamela7]

i had another thought on this one. Perhaps he was opening up to see how oriented you were; he might have been testing the water to see if he could talk about wider non-guy things? He might have had to pretend to be macho. I do wonder if a huge % of guys do all pose as macho to avoid the scool ridicule of being called effeminate or a wimp? As Katey says, we know we're all wimps here, even if we do wield chainsaws out back ;-)))

[Meghan4now]

Sounds like your friend is not entirely comfortable in his masculinity, worried about being man enough. Kind of silly, there have been long Johns and thermal underware for years. Construction guys, road crews, professional football players, air Marshallers (the guys with the flashlights at the gate) al wear them in cold conditions. Heck you would be fool not to in places like Alaska in the winter. Under Armour has made a huge business of it!

Why, just the other day I was wearing Vera Wang leggings under my jeans while out to shovel the driveway. When I was stripping down for bed, my wife said, "you know they make men's version of those" ( of course my thought was, where's the fun in that?)

Dude needs to lighten up. The answer should have been, "Not too girly for [insert his favorite football player here]."

[Heidi Stevens]

Hey Rose, thermals are a bit form fitting, but they have to be to work. Since a lot more clothes for women conform to the body, this may give the male user of fitting clothes second thoughts. In a related matter, consider this: I was a construction inspector for 7 years back in the early 80's. I rarely would catch the weather forecast for the next day and every now and then I would pay for it. A front would come thru and drop the temperature from 60F to below freezing in an couple of hours.
My thermals are at home and I can't be gone that long to go get them. However, down the street from most projects was a convenience store. 10 minutes later I'd have on a pair of panty hose and could finish the day nice and warm. When you think about it, my long handles were made of nylon, so are the hose. Both conform to your legs. So maybe your friend is a bit frightened by wearing tight fitting clothes. His problem, I'm staying warm!

[Sharon B.]

Personally speaking I would rather wear pantyhose then men's thermals underwear, of course I would also wear panties with my pantyhose. That is just me.

[JeanTG]

I'm also open to tights and leggings in the circumstances. I cycle and in cold weather also wear cycling tights (men's but they're pretty unisex; come to think of it it's the only time I can wear lots of spandex in public!). Always panties underneath.

[Tina_gm]

This to me is another sign of how masculinity is becoming so restricting to men.

[Karen RHT]

Perhaps, the guy in question has witnessed a woman wearing men's thermal underwear, and incorrectly believes that because a woman has worn them, his masculinity is somehow at risk if he wears them.

Thermal underwear, long johns, whatever we choose to call them, are an accepted staple for men in cold weather environments. Why anyone would think otherwise, is beyond me. Funny (but true) thing though...my wife prefers to wear men's thermal underwear to women's tights or pantyhose under her slacks in cold, blustery weather. OTOH, I've shelved the long johns in favour of tights. :)


Karen

[Jenny22]

I might have replied," Hey! Remember Joe Namath once wore pantyhose!"

[AllieSF]

I find it quite funny that he is not secure in who he is. I lived in Michigan, Detroit area and the Upper peninsula and central Minnesota farm country where cold is more that just cold. I and all of my friends never had a second thought about wearing long underwear, which most of the common types at that time were just a heavier cotton tighter fitting (not nylon tight) pants. They were tighter fitting so that they did not ride up as you put your regular pants over them. I probably would have been a bit speechless too in that moment. All I can say is to support your friend by saying, "Who the hell cares. You are cold and doing something about it. That is what long or thermal underwear is for. Just ask any of those men who work outside during the winter. They know how to keep warm and don't worry about what others think."

[Taylor186]

Puzzling that someone would think that thermal underwear (long johns) are feminine. I grew up wearing them in the farm country of Ohio, before global warming, and they never once satisfied my crossdressing desire. But they did keep me warm.

I'm with Ally, a great answer would be "who cares, if they keep you warm, wear them."

[Rhian]

For some reason properly insulating yourself against the cold is not considered to be very masculine. I remember when snoods crept into the Premier League and the players who chose to wear them were ridiculed. A newspaper referring to the players who wore them as 'powder puffs' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1363404/Snoods-banned-Football-chiefs-finally-time-neckwear-designed-powder-puffs.html So I don't think the person thinks its feminine becuase of the design but because men are expected to be tough and be able to bare the cold.

[irene9999]

Sounds like he's insecure about his manhood, thermal underwear is not feminine looking at all and not something that excites me as a CD

[Bruce64]

A Lady that owns a small clothing introduce me to Elita Men's thermal or winter under pants for Men, its silky stretchy and soft, I still have a few, very feminine material.

[Ozark]

Why, just the other day I was wearing Vera Wang leggings under my jeans while out to shovel the driveway. When I was stripping down for bed, my wife said, "you know they make men's version of those" ( of course my thought was, where's the fun in that?)]."

LOL.... my wife has told me the same thing..... I got a chuckle out of your comment

[lisalove]

What's amusing to me is, a masculine guy even gives a rat's butt about what anyone thinks about his long johns. Or why he thinks anyone even thinks about him wearing long johns
By the way, I work out in the cold, and my long johns came from the women's department, and I don't give a rat's butt, what anybody has to say about them. LOL.

[ambigendrous]

I agree: when I need added warmth my garment of choice is Cuddle Duds!

[Samantha981]

I have a few pair of mens long/thermal underwear... not feminine in any way to me nor did I think anything of them before I crossdressed. Just functional keep warm gear her in Minnesota :straightface: . Pretty handy for ice fishing, skiing, shoveling the driveway .
Katey888 - Planes Trains Automobiles is one of my Favorite movies! Pillows :rofl:

[Brandy Mathews]

Have you seen under armor? It is just like leggings. I wear hose and under armor when it is cold, really helps if you work outside.
Hugs,
Bree :)

[Kiersten]

They were necessary growing up in the NE part of the country. There defiantly not feminine.

[TaraGrace]

Grin.. so having considdered thermal pants as the perfect hose replacement (being tall I considdered the option) I came to the conclusion that most (if not all, or atleast the ones priced fairly) have this stupid (STUPID!) brand logo right at the point where I'd want to show a bit of leg in a dress split.. aaarghl..

I'm fairly sure those are added just for the benefit of being guy pants.. look boys, it's even got crossdressing protection! ;) rest assure.. arghl

[JamieG]

Well there's nothing feminine about the old-fashioned white waffle-patterned thermal underwear, but I think mens thermal underwear has expanded in options. A few years ago, my wife and I bought each bought a pair of silky black thermal underwear. The only difference was the sizing and that mine had a fly. That said, I've recently bought multiple womens thermal tops to wear under my shirts on really cold days. Even if I can get mens wear that's basically the same, I prefer the womens'.