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The term wife-beater reportedly became synonymous for an undershirt after a 1947 criminal case where a Detroit man was arrested for beating his wife to death, and newspapers printed a photo of the " wife beater" wearing a stained undershirt. published in 2001 quoted Jesse Sheidlower, the principal editor of the Oxford English Dictionary’s American office at the time.
For those interested in how region affects the local terminology, I've included a Google Trends comparison for " undershirt, wife beater, singlets, and sleeveless shirt" below.Over time, the tank top evolved from being solely a functional garment into a fashion statement, worn not only during physical activities but also in casual settings.
Some people refer to it as a “muscle tee” or a “bro tank” to highlight its association with weightlifting and gym culture. Before, I give you a context to the term “wife-beater” and its history of how a tank top gets its violent name. Pontchartrain at Detroit: A Guide to the Daily Lives of Fur Trade and Military Personnel, Settlers, and Missionaries at French Posts. In addition to athletic usage, tank tops have traditionally been used as undershirts, especially with suits and dress shirts.Wife beater-clad protagonists have been a mainstay ever since Brando in Streetcar, their ribbed white tee offering connotations of vulgarity, crassness and/or criminality. From James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause” to Tom Cruise in “Top Gun,” the tank top has been showcased as a symbol of rebelliousness and youthful energy. The tank top is much popular with genders other than the male now and in the Woke age, perhaps the “wife-beater” is also being used with a sense of irony. The history of the wife beater begins on January 19, 1935, at the Marshall Field’s State Street location in downtown Chicago when Cooper’s Inc. While each story is slightly different about the exact origins, the idea behind all of them is the same.
As more people started getting arrested on TV, the stereotype of wife beaters being arrested in the shirts they would help name proved to be more fact than exaggerated fiction. But, he adds, because the primary job of the undershirt is to intercept sweat before it permeates the dress shirt, many guys with excess underarm sweat (like me) opt for crew necks year-round (also me). The tank top, despite its unfortunate association with the term “wife beater,” has left a lasting impact on the world of fashion and popular culture.If you are wearing a baggy shirt you won’t see it and if you are wearing a tight shirt, it makes a nice silhouette underneath.
This allows for individuality and personalization while moving away from the negative associations of the term “wife beater. What's more, iconic male celebrities, like rappers 50 Cent and Eminem, often sported the top, further popularizing the trend and contributing to its intimidating and cool reputation. When Hollywood first started making movies in the early 20t century, they had picture shows before they had the ability to add sound.
Upholding this idea of machismo, literally, in a wife-beater was one of the greatest actors of all time, Marlon Brando, in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire (in picture). Soon, other brands, including Hanes and Fruit of the Loom, developed their own simple tanks and the A-shirt became ubiquitous among American men. They can be dressed up or dressed down, and sported for any occasion that permits an exposed shoulder. The association of a garment with abusive behavior is not only unjust but also perpetuates harmful assumptions and biases.
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