G-String Essay

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The short story “G-string,” by Nicola Barker, relates the troubles of a middle-aged woman with her self-confidence and the struggles to attain a certain idea of herself as a modern woman by wearing a “G-string” or thong underwear. She fails to achieve the respect and admiration she seeks from her boyfriend Mr. Kip as Gillian is “no Katherine Hepburn.” In order to try to conquer this dilemma, she must choose between wearing fashionable undergarments to resemble the picture she has of a voguish woman, or rejecting the unpleasant G-string and accommodating who she is, with her flaws and imperfections. The G-string underwear represents several things within the story such as the struggle to be a modern woman, the power of seduction, and sacrifices that are sometimes made in life by women. Firstly, we see that there is a constant struggle for women to fit into society as everything is constantly changing as the world is becoming modernized. The G-string is a symbol of society’s control over women. The G-string is seen as a societal need in order to be sexy and dictates how others see us and defines our power of seduction. In the story, the mischievous panties become the standard of sexy which every woman must meet. Gillian feels she needs to wear a G-string in order to fit in, be sexy, desirable to men, and most of all modern. Gillian strives to be more like the stereotypical character, Jeanie who originally introduces her to the G-string. She is the archetype of the trendy, classy woman that society sees as sexy and up-to-date. Although there are modern changes happening within the world every day, some might say that women are bringing the need to conform to modern times upon themselves. This is especially true when Jeanie calls Gillian’s white briefs “passion killers.” There are constant changing trends for undergarments and personal grooming and most women are

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