I disagree about the Grubbs being stupid. They speak humourously, but invariably tell the truth and give good advice. For example, speak the Queen Grubb when you first discover their village as a steef, she is full of wisdom. Furthermore, their intelligent prophesies appear to come true: It was Grubbs who prophesised that the 'demon', Sekto, would steal their water, and then they would be rescued by another - Stranger. There are cave paintings depicting this pretty vividly. Furthering their intelligence are their towns - made out of brick, rock, with tools. They use weapons, wear clothing and appear to have a sense of beauty (with artistic facial adornments, hats, etc). They create marvellous statues and have a very secure religion, as suggested by the very large Grubb Temple you visit to rescue Eugene.
The Grubbs recognise the Olden Steef as soon as they see him. The Grubbs rescue Stranger is a very clever maneuvour from a pack of Outlaws who are on high guard. They give Stranger the armour, his new weaponry, and much more.
All I'm saying here is that the Grubbs are very intelligent, and that they appear to know a lot about goings-ons in the world - particularly concerning the Steef.
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I still think the entire de-pantsing could be interpreted as a parrallel to the people in our world who are having a hard time finding out their own gender, and perhaps hiding it from the outside world. Not unlike some of the more uncomfortable scenes in the movie "Boys don't Cry".
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Very possible. However, I think a stronger argument is one for race. Stranger is hiding his race from the people of the world. When he is revealled as a steef, the townsfolk (Clakkerz) are in utter fear. They consider steef as beasts, animals who would eat them. This constrasts strongly with their high opinion of the bipedal 'Stranger'. This has some connotations of what the black people went through, especially in Southern America, where racism reigned strong and black people were seen as sub-human, to an extent.
However, I think Super Munch has the strongest point: The Grubbs call him a 'he' throughout, and I'm adamant that the Grubbs are fully aware of Stranger's sex.
They've lived with Steef for centuries.