(a) underwear exposed = warning (b)underwear exposed, pants below buttocks = disorderly conduct (c) buttocks exposed = indecent exposure
Around the country in both urban cities and rural countryside, and stretching the parameters of racial barriers, a handful of our youth have been inspired by the desire to wear their pants not at the prescribed waist line as originally intended, but to mimic a style of dress whose origins are traced directly to the holding cells of our country’s growing prison population. Without the right to wear belts to hold up their pants, the trousers would often fall below the waistline revealing the undergarments and cause the prisoners to have to hold them up with one of their hands as they walked. Eventually promoted thru rap music videos and fashioned to the ‘T’ by urban fashionistos (as) alike on the streets, the saggy baggies have made both a fashion statement and controversial headlines over the years for parents, authorities and other young adults alike.
But what fashion statement does it actually make? And what point does it serve anyway? To those who choose the discomfort of having to walk in a seemingly awkward fashion in order to keep their waistbands at their thighs, or the inconvenience of having to hold them in place so they don’t fall to the ground, I can’t help but to pose these questions.
To some it is the sought after look of a rebel; a man or woman who looks like they have some ‘swagga’ and are on the sexual prowl. To some, it is reflective of a little boy trying to fit into their manhood by wearing clothes too big for their underdeveloped minds and frames. Still to others in positions of authority, as well as many of the courts of law around our country, it is a subversive fashion that threatens them, so therefore, banning these symbols of disrespect would help to set an example and promote social order. So I also ask, “Is the tradeoff of being judged on either end of the stereotypic yardstick worth it”?
Defendants of the right to freedom of expression would argue that banning saggy pants not only violates this right, but because of its heavy connection to the rap music genre, it also promotes racial profiling. I would argue that if nothing less, for those who shop for extra-large, so they can wear extra low, we will see signs of not only muscular-skeletal degeneration but a whole new way of walking in generations to come. From revealing one’s behind, to serving jail time, the price for personal preference in the way one dresses can certainly be a heavy one.
