Our first intuition regarding the structure of light arises from a rudimentary observation. If your hand intercepts light and generates a shadow, this wave is not longitudinal or transverse but 3D! 1-D and 2-D waves are outside the purview of Physics.
If you can stop light with your bare hands, light cannot possibly be 1D (longitudinal wave) or 2D (transverse wave). Light has to be 3D. Keep in mind that an object is not that which we can touch or see. There are objects we can neither see (e.g., air) nor nor touch (e.g., a square). An object is that which has shape.
Michael Faraday investigated light and other electromagnetic phenomena in quite a bit of detail. He concluded that a magnetic field not only induces an electric field to come into being and vice versa, but that they both run perpendicular to each other. James Maxwell would describe his findings mathematically.
Hence, if electric and magnetic fields are not 2D entities, but rather comprise an invisible, intangible mediator that is 3D, then the only thing in our real world that seems to be able to simulate what Faraday visualized is a DNA-like rope.
A taut rope is an ideal candidate to model light because, in addition, a taut rope ensures that the perpendicularly oriented strands embrace a permanently straight axis.
A tightly pulled rope not only has the two strands running perpendicular to each other but they both embrace a permanently straight axis..