PEN15
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It didnt really last long enough for anyone to look back on it all that fondly.
I speak, of course, of the thong, locus of turn-of-the-millennium teen sexuality.
But as your recappin grandma over here can tell you, thongs were once the ultimate suburban teen taboo.
They symbolized pure sexual availability, hovering just out of reach above your embroidered low-rise cargo pants.
And they were huge for the purest of reasons: Adults fuckinghatedthem.
(Unless you wanted a book, of course.)
The girls steal the thong from their classmate Heather, Annas rival for Alexs affection.
(Laura Kightlinger plays the mom, to self-absorbed suburban perfection.
But the real focus is the stolen thong, which Maya nicks while Heather is out of the room.
But the thong gives the girls real confidence, something thats always in short supply for 13-year-olds.
and even then, still has to beg Maya to throw the destroyed fabric in the trash.
Mayas underwear melancholy draws the attention of Annas modeling partner, the grandmotherly Rose.
I never got to enjoy my beauty, but I kept obsessing over it all the time… Its a powerful message, and one thats almost impossible for women to absorb before its way too late.
The show knows it, too.
Do I look okay?
Anna asks Maya at the end of the episode.
Yeah, she responds, but do I look okay?
Sure, Anna says, but its whats inside that counts, right?
Oh yeah, Maya says.
