Okaaay… According to a recent article in the Daily Telegraph...

Furry underwear ‘too sexy’

Authorities in Uzbekistan have banned fur-lined underwear after deeming it too sexy.

Sales of furry underwear have soared after temperature in the region fell below minus 20C.

But the government has now banned the lingerie saying they want to protect citizens from “unbridled fantasies” caused by wearing the soft fabric.

A textile company which makes the underwear for men and women has protested at the decision.

I’ve seen this news snippet referenced several times, quoted in full but never orginally sourced. Or dated. So is it true? I don’t know. Could be, you know, since Uzbekistan has a pretty, um, capricious dictatorship. On the other hand the country has become a bit of a butt of the joke on late-night comedy shows. On the other hand if I’m not mistaken the place is cold as the dickens so I’d have imagined fur-lined pretty much everything would come in handy. Anyway, if it’s true (and it certainly could be) then I just sort of wonder if there isn’t more to the story.

But that’s not exactly why I bring this up. I’m just curious if anyone out there south of Fairbanks would want fur-lined (or fake-fur-lined for people like me to don’t care for animal fur) underwear. And if so whether you’d want it because you thought it was sexy.

I remember one of my first partner’s mom had a pair of fur mittens and we made very nice use of those, and sable paintbrushes, peacock feathers, and a number of other surreally sensual objects. That was pretty cool. But fur-lined underwear? I’ll stick with cotton or silk.

From my Kitchen Shorts set on Flickr

[Disclaimer: I don’t have any personal interest in Uzbekistan. I’ve never been there, I have no family from there, and as far as I know I don’t know anyone from there either. It just seems like one of those stories that gets passed along unquestioned because they’re too good to check. So I thought I’d question it. —fl]