The 'Nylon Gene'

Do people have a predisposition to legwear? And what are the ramifications?

There’s probably no way to prove or disprove the first question, but like personal tastes in food, music, or literature, people are different. There’s an old joke that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who don’t. And for the first group, we joke that there are two kinds of people in the world: those with the “nylon gene” and those without. Now as far as science has told us, the gene doesn’t really exist of course, and in fact we don’t even know if the love of wearing legwear is hereditary, but it’s a good way to characterize people who like wearing legwear. It’s a way of explaining the enjoyment we feel when we wear tights ourselves or see others wearing them.

Those of us who have the nylon gene, which is probably most of the people visiting this web site, enjoy the tactile sensation of soft fabrics like silk, nylon, and satin. Those who don’t have the gene are perfectly comfortable with cotton, linen, polyester, and wool. For women, it’s no worries. They can wear either kinds of fabric. For men it can be problematic. Men are supposed to be tough and macho in western society, so they are programmed in their early life not to have a softer side; and they definitely aren’t supposed to like those softer, silky fabrics.

And yet, many do. Perhaps in secret, perhaps openly, but they do. Men have, in fact, established a limited beachhead on this side of the fabric boundary. Some guys have taken to silk boxers and bathrobes, and nylon athletic apparel, underwear, and dress socks, for example. These products have been marketed to men for a long enough time to become acceptable.

The problem for many men who have the nylon gene is that they want to move into territory that has been traditionally reserved for women, at least in recent history, namely tights (both sheer and opaque). Now tights for men are nothing new. They were popular in Spain in the 1500’s and the fashion was imported to England. Men wore cotton or silk hosiery to show off their legs and to keep warm. Women never showed off their legs until the 20th century, and so tights were strictly a male fashion for three centuries, until Victorian fashion changes put men into pants and somber colors for the next two centuries. And when women did start showing their legs, hosiery for women was made to be seen. Cotton, silk, and later nylon were fabrics of choice. Stockings were held up by garters until the invention of sheer nylon tights in America in the late 1950s. And they were a woman-only garment until the end of the 20th century. They were off-limits to men completely, except for cross-dressers and fetishists.

A curious thing has happened in recent years. Men who have the nylon gene and secretly wore tights have started to come out of the closet. Assisted by companies who have started marketing tights for men, and web sites like this one and others, men have found out that they are not alone – there are many thousands of others who had been wearing women’s hosiery secretly and enjoying it all along. And they are wearing for all kinds of reasons. Many have discovered the valuable benefits of nylon hosiery, benefits like warmth without the bulk of thermal underwear; compression to energize muscles, increase blood flow, prevent fatigue, and prevent DVT; protection from insects or chafing from wool pants; and many other reasons not connected with cross-dressing or fetish wearing. Many men have tried wearing tights and just decided they have found it comfortable.
But not every male has come out of the closet and many who would like to unfortunately experience no support from their wives or significant others. Or worse, their women hate the idea. There are probably as many reasons as there are relationships.

One of the most common reasons may be early programming. By wearing tights in the early part of a relationship partly or primarily for the fetish aspect, a man may inadvertently "program" or reinforce the idea in a woman's head that his reason for wearing pantyhose is mainly or exclusively for the fetish aspect. The fetish derives from the fact that men wearing tights is taboo. To do so gives many men a thrill that is translated into sexual arousal.

As the guy wears more often, he may outgrow that fetish kick and no longer feel the same (or perhaps any) level of arousal. He knows that he still likes to wear for comfort, warmth, compression, and other "legitimate" reasons. However, the woman is still programmed for fetish. So it's no wonder that even though she may be ok with her man wearing in private, she is horrified at the thought of him wearing tights in public, where her friends and relatives might see how "perverted" (or at least odd) her man is. After all, she hasn't seen or followed this web site or any other legwear forum in all probability, and she has no idea that there are thousands of other men in the world who wear for non-fetish reasons. Her horizons are very limited and her reaction is quite understandable. And to make matters worse, if she hates hose herself because she finds it hot, constraining, or just plain uncomfortable, then she just won't "get it" that his reason for wearing could be that he actually LIKES it.

In other words, the guy may have started off on the wrong foot and now he doesn't have a leg to stand on (no puns intended, of course).

Reversing the fetish programming and undoing years of reinforcement may be difficult or impossible. There are no secret formulae that are guaranteed to work successfully. Communications and compromise offer the best hope, but there are no guarantees. Women need to be reminded that for them, wearing hosiery is primarily for appearance and fashion, whereas for most men, it’s primarily for comfort and/or the benefits enumerated above. It’s difficult for many women to accept and really understand this difference. If a man likes to see his woman in hosiery, finds her appearance pleasing, and compliments her, her association of legwear and appearance is reinforced. If she herself doesn’t find wearing hosiery to be comfortable, how can she possibly understand or appreciate her man’s claim that that’s why he wants to wear it?

Male readers, if you’re in this position, there are no easy answers. Review your situation and ask yourself if you somehow created this predicament by “training” your woman that your love of legwear early on was fetish driven. Does she still see it that way? Did you shift your position over time and neglect to have her recognize the paradigm change? Have you communicated with her about it, tried to propose compromises, and had long discussions about love and support in your relationship? It’s a tall mountain to climb, and you may never reach the top, but if you do, having a supportive (or at least neutral) woman is way better than one who is aggressively opposed to your openly expressing your nylon gene. It’s worth it if you can reach the heights. Give it your best effort.