[HPFGU-OTChatter] wifebeaters Re: Closets and Wardrobes

[P. Alexis Nguyen]

Carol:
>  She's a first-time author with no idea of how readers will react,
>  which is why I'm testing for reactions here. I'm not going to change
>  the word, only query it, and it would help if I could suggest
>  alternate terms. So far, "tank top" is the only possibility. And I
>  still think that the color ought to be changed because "black
>  wifebeater" glimpsed out of context suggests something very different
>  from an article of clothing.

Ali:
Tank tops are what women wear.  They're generally regarded as the
spaghetti strap contraptions.  Though I've seen wifebeaters referred
to as tank tops, it doesn't change the fact that women are generally
the only ones who wear tank tops.

However, I would follow your instinct to change the color, if only
because men's wifebeaters are rarely anything but white.  Designer
wifebeaters (yeah, that's not wrong) come in a million colours and
sometimes have crazy designs.  If your author is 22, she (or her
character) might be the Urban Outfitter type, and her wifebeaters are
shorter, more fitted, and meant to be worn somewhat layered (aka throw
an unbuttons shirt over it) or completely by itself.


>  Carol, who thinks that the author chose "wifebeater" because she's
>  about twenty-two and hasn't considered the connotations of the word

Ali:
What can I say?  We're a strange bunch, us 20-somethings (I'm 25).
The term wifebeater, by the time it got to us, had lost all
ethnic/whatever connotation.  It's still considered somewhat "redneck"
(a la King of the Hills for those who watch American TV) but not
offensive.  Probably none of us have ever thought about the term and
why it's called such, so we generally don't think of it as offensive -
gross generalization, yes, but also mostly true.

To be honest, I'm fascinated by this whole conversation since, as
stated, people my age wear wifebeaters.  I graduated from an Ivy
League Uni with some seriously old money folks, and the girls in my
class (and I admit I did it on rare occasions) spent a goodly amount
of money on their designer wifebeaters (whereupon they would also be
called tank tops because such a term is acceptable for a female).
It's true that they're generally worn layered so it's not always a
"plain tee over jeans" type of situation, but I don't think anyone
considered it lower class or uncouth.

~Ali