As someone whose wardrobe is littered with white, high-neck vests (I’m a queer Gen Z-er, it’s kind of like our uniform), I’ve always felt vaguely unsettled by the term “wife-beater”. While the name is largely retired these days, the recent resurgence of the simple white vest’s popularity means that the nickname is always lurking in the background, like a slur you know not to say. One white vest can cast an awfully dark shadow.
The implication was always that the white vest was the attire of Stella Artois-sloshing, red-faced male abusers, sweaty and unshaven, ready to launch into violence at any moment. But it’s come far since these associations, and has transcended into a sort of trendy gay uniform. Now more likely to be spotted on an individual with nose piercings and a mullet than someone with an St George’s flag tattoo and a bald head, the wife-beater needs a new name for its new aura.
One white vest can cast an awfully dark shadow
Enter: the wife-pleaser, a term coined by Gen Z TikTokers who want to distance themselves from the old connotations of abuse and update the white vest with a more positive moniker. It’s not being received all too well in some circles, with critics decrying the name change as the work of “generation cringe”. What I would level back at them, though, is the same argument you can use for rebranding most slurs: why do you want to protect the term “wifebeater” so badly, and what does it matter to you if it changes? Do you want to say it? Do you really feel comfortable saying it?
Chances are these people aren’t even the ones wearing wife-pleasers anymore. Calling it a “simple white vest” isn’t prescriptive enough because this style of vest has a very specific cut. Just ask anyone who’s hesitated over typing in “wife-beater vest” into Google, because as much as it encapsulates the specific style, it’s still offensive and feels wrong even to type out.
I say we should embrace the new term. Having more wife-pleasers out there surely can’t be a bad thing.
