In theory, he says, someone could lose a testicle if they got hit with enough force “but it’s really, really rare, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it.”Īlthough none of this necessarily robs them of their strong masculine sheen, which is what drew the Leathermen and other gay men to them in the first place. He adds that he rarely sees blunt force trauma injuries to the genitalia. Sharlip, a clinical professor of urology at the University of California, San Francisco. “I don’t think jockstraps have a function unless you’re wearing one with a metal cup,” says Ira D. In fairness, while a jock with a hard cup is still worth wearing to avoid things like getting hit in the testicles by a baseball traveling at 100 mph, for general support, supportive briefs are just as effective. “If you don’t start wearing one when you’re younger, you won’t later on,” he reasons. In terms of more modern usage, Austin Sumners, a publicist for Major League Baseball, says that while the league office encourages jockstraps for certain positions - catcher in particular - they’re definitely less popular than a few decades ago, in large part because not as many Little Leaguers are wearing them. “It rubs, chafes, and the straps go up your butt.”
He doubted that more than two out of every 100 Olympic athletes in non-contact sports used them. Olympic Training Center, told Health magazine at the time. “It just wasn’t designed for comfort,” Bob Beeten, manager of the U.S. As long ago as 1993, athletes were starting to bail on jocks as in-game protection for their nether regions. Bennett filed a patent for what he called a “combined jock strap and suspensory” and said it was meant for bicycle-riders - “though it is useful for all purposes in which it is customary to wear a jockstrap.” From the illustration of the invention, however, his “jock strap” appeared to be little more than three strips of elastic material sewn together. No, in 2017 - nearly 40 years after the first man was crowned International Mister Leather - the jockstrap is a legitimate sex symbol.įirst, though, a little history: In March 1897, a Chicago man named Charles F. This incarnation of the jockstrap was, without question, decidedly unsexy, with Little Leaguers and youth football players generally leaving them in their equipment bag for far too long - like pretty much every other piece of gear - and allowing them to get so crusty that a protective cup no longer seemed necessary.Īnd yet, somehow, someway - and with great effort from the Leathermen - the jockstrap is no longer a symbol of disgusting teen hygiene. In fact, during World War I, the Army issued a jock to every serviceman to help prevent the “excessive fatigue” that might arise without one. There was a time, of course, when the only associations people had with jockstraps were gym class and team sports, where they were usually a requirement.