Pantsing
 | This article has a list of references or other websites, but its sources are not clear because it does not have inline citations. (June 2023) |
 |
Pantsing is pulling down someone else’s pants and sometimes their underwear without them wanting it It is sometimes a prank[1] and sometimes bullying.[2][3]
History
[change | change source]In colleges in the United States before WWII it was extremely common for male sophomores to pants male freshmen. Pantsing was also used in fraternity hazing. In 1971, the journalist Gail Sheehy said that it happened a lot to girls in elementary school and that it was actually sexual assault.[4]
Nicknames
[change | change source]Pantsing is also called debagging in England, dacking in Australia, breeking in Scotland, down-trou in New Zealand, and jocking in Ireland. It’s also sometimes called sharking but only when it’s used for sexual assault.[5]
Another prank that is like this one is giving someone a wedgie where the underwear is pulled up instead of down.[6]
Depantsing, debagging, dacking, flagging, sharking, and scanting are other terms for Pantsing.
Bullying
[change | change source]Pantsing is sometimes used by kids who are bullying other children. In 1996, a woman named Juanita Ross Epp wrote a book saying that teachers who didn’t have a problem with their students pantsing other students were doing a bad job because pantsing was bullying.[7]
In fiction
[change | change source]In The Simpsons, the nerdy character Martin Prince wears a lot of different bathing suits at the same time when swimming in a pool since he knows Bart Simpson will pull them down but then so many other people pull them down that Martin ends up naked.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry is upset when he finds out that when his dead father James Potter was 15, he was a bully to Severus Snape who would use magic to take off Snape’s trousers[8] and maybe his underwear in front of a lot of people and also made him eat soap.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "6th grade students punished for "pantsing"". khou.com. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
- ↑ Benson, Sonja (29 June 2017). "Understanding Bully Behavior: Second in Bully Series". Dr Sonja Benson. Archived from the original on 15 November 2023.
- ↑ "What does pantsing mean?". definitions.net. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
- ↑ New York Magazine. 15 February 1971. p. 28. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
- ↑ Higgins, Paul (2 October 2015). "Fourth charge put to Lisburn teen accused of sexual assault by 'sharking'". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
- ↑ Wickman, Forrest (10 July 2012). "A History of Pantsing". Slate. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
- ↑ Epp, Juanita Ross; Watkinson, Ailsa M. (2005). Systemic Violence: How Schools Hurt Children. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-71584-7. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
- ↑ "James Potter Was a Jerk". MuggleNet. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
Other websites
[change | change source]- New York Magazine. 15 February 1971.
- https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/fourth-charge-put-to-lisburn-teen-accused-of-sexual-assault-by-sharking/31576647.html
- Ayto, John; Simpson, John, eds. (2008). "Pantsing". The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199543700.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-954370-0.
- https://slate.com/human-interest/2012/07/gretchen-hamel-pantsing-where-did-pantsing-and-depantsing-come-from.html
- Pantsing victim awarded $5K in human rights case
- https://www.khou.com/amp/article/news/local/6th-grade-students-punished-for-pantsing/285-148654445
- https://www.mugglenet.com/2018/02/james-potter-jerk/
