While many cities are looking for ways to stop the obesity epidemic or illegal drug usage, Atlanta, Georgia is making an attempt to protect citizens from another threat to their well-being: questionable fashion.
The Atlanta city council is set to consider an "anti-sagging" law at its meeting next Monday, to prevent men from walking around with extremely low jeans that show the whole world whether they wear boxers or briefs.
"Little children see it and want to adopt it, thinking it's the in thing," said city councilman C.T. Martin in an interview in August. Martin is also the sponsor of the law. "I don't want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go. I want them to think about their future."
If the Council approves the law banning baggy pants, people found in violation would be fined up to $100 and assigned eight hours of public service. The measure would be included in the city's public decency laws, which already ban things such as simulated sexual acts and the touching of one's genitals or breasts.
And that's not all...Men are not the only people being targeted by Martin's proposal. If passed, women would not be allowed to expose the straps of their thong - tastefully referred to as the "T-bar," which often appears just below the pervasive "tramp stamp" tattoo - to wear jogging bras or show a bra strap in public.
The anti-sagging law in Atlanta would not be the first of its kind. There are already laws of a similar nature passed in Riviera, Florida, Mansfield, LA, and Declambre, Louisiana. In Declambre, a person can be fined up to $500 for showing off their undies. In Mansfield, LA, population 5,496, saggers face fines up to $150 plus court costs associated with the heinous "crime." The worst saggers face up to 15 days of jail time.
While some Atlanta citizens are open to the idea of the amendment and not having to stare at men's derrieres all day, others are taking it as an attack upon culture and race. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has recently stepped into the fray, claiming that the fashion of baggy pants was created by black youth culture and to ban the loose pants is to promote racism.
"This is a racial profiling bill that promotes and establishes a framework for an additional type of racial profiling," ACLU of Georgia Executive Director Debbie Seagraves said.
The style of showing boxers was allegedly inspired by clothing in prisons, where oversized uniforms were issued without belts to prevent inmates from using them as weapons or instruments of suicide. The fashion spread through rappers to become a national style and a symbol of rap culture. The government giveth, the government taketh away!
But is banning baggy pants really worth the fight? Fashion is a constantly evolving medium, and within the next few years the concept of buying pants a few sizes too big could lose its popularity. Conversely, it could become a part of accepted mainstream culture, like the mini skirt did in the 1960s. While any skirt above the knees used to be considered provocative, the mini skirt is now an undeniable facet of the catwalk and the sidewalk. Fashion can be pretty unpredictable, and we can see baggy pants following the same path in the years to come. Unless of course the government fashionistas put a stop to all of this "outrage."
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