Cracking Down On Baggy Pants

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

26 Aug 2007 09:15 AM

In previous blogs I've made fun of the baggy pants trend. Not that I find humor in seeing a stranger's underwear, but in some cases baggy pants offenders learn their lessons the hard way and it's hard not to crack smile.

Okay, puns aside. The issue of baggy pants is serious business in places like Atlanta, Georgia where lawmakers want to put an end to the fashion trend made popular by teens. If city leaders get their way, baggy pants that reveal boxer shorts or thongs would be illegal under a proposed amendment to Atlanta's indecency laws. The amendment states that sagging pants are an "epidemic" that is becoming a "major concern" around the country.

"Little children see it and want to adopt it, thinking it's the in thing," remarked one city council member. "I don't want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go. I want them to think about their future."

Don't think the proposed ordinance is exclusively targeting males. According to the proposal, women would be barred from exposing the strap of a thong beneath their pants. And, it doesn't stop there. Under the proposed amendment, females would also be prohibited from wearing sports bras in public or show a bra strap.

Personally, I think the last point would be hard to police, especially in a place like Hotlanta where countless numbers of females walk the city's streets in tank tops during the summer months. Those traditional bra wearing women would have to find a comfortable strapless bra, buy a shirt with a built-in bra, or safety pin their bra straps to their tops. If they don't they would be subject to a fine similar to those who break the city's existing "indecent exposure" law.

Opponents of the proposed legislation call the dress code discriminatory. Some local civil rights leaders go so far as to call the amendment a "racial profiling bill that promotes and establishes a framework for an additional type of racial profiling." They maintain that it would be impossible to enforce the law in a nondiscriminatory way because it targets a trend that came out of the black hip-hop culture.

The proposal will be up for debate at the City Council's meeting later this week. If it eventually gets passed it wouldn't be the first of its kind in the nation. Earlier this year, lawmakers in Delcambre, Louisiana, passed an ordinance that carries a fine of up to $500 or six months in jail for exposing underwear in public. In addition, several other area municipalities have enacted similar laws in recent months.

Do you support the ban on baggy pants?

Related Articles:

Fashion Don't: Baggy Pants

Fashion Files: So Long Saggy Pants, Hello Cucumber Cool

"Does My Butt Look Big In This?"

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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