Panty fixation

I'm getting a bit creeped out by Vernon God Little today. The book's all about how a small town tries to find a "skate goat" after a mass killing where the shooter tops himself and Vernon was his only friend so the local police reckon he MUST know something. That's fine. And it says some uncomfortable things about how pecking orders work so that even though everyone is poor they all brag about things that aren't true as a way of bignoting themselves such as slipping "when I get back from Hawaii" into every conversation or refusing to go anywhere in case a mythical new fridge arrives. I like that. It's close enough to my experience to be recognisable but far enough away to be funny because the sorts of lies I've had to tell to save face over the years haven't been that bold.

But I am feeling a bit uncomfortable about Vernon's fantasies about girls' undies. Not so much that he thinks about girls; I'd be worried if he didn't. Not even that he describes in graphic detail the colour and smell of many different girls' underwear. It wouldn't be something I'd do but each to his own. What worries me is that he INSISTS on calling them "panties". This is the ultimate "ick" word for me. It just makes them sound like something slightly naughty, something you shouldn't show to people, reasons to cross your legs and make sure no-one can see up your skirt as you climb stiars, reasons to make sure boys at the school dance don't have shiny shoes in case they catch sight of a reflection of your smalls. "Panties" sound slightly naughty, like something you'd expect other people to think about rather than a perfectly functional piece of clothing that half the population wears. Ick.