The Case For Baggy Pants: Not Asking For It!

I have found myself having to do some things that I never really thought I would in the name of empathy.  Today I find myself defending baggy pants.  Moreover, I find myself attempting to point out the hypocrisy that we as a society engage in on a daily basis.

The point of this blog is an honest look at society and let's be honest, a lot of what we as a society
choose to deal with is PR related. Black men have the worst public relations team imaginable.
There are all kids of mythologies that surround where the style comes from.  What I have heard most often is that it comes from prison when inmates would use the style as a not so subtle symbol that they are "available" to other inmates...for homosexual sex.  Where ever it evolves from let's call it what it is, a fashion statement.

I don't particularly agree with it as a fashion statement and even as a child of the 80's and 90's I find I dislike it not so much for its symbolism, but for its impracticality.  It is just too hard to move around if you are constantly pulling your pants up.  I am a simple dresser though and I have trouble processing this the same way I have trouble processing high heels, not to mention the expense of each.

I think someone needs to make this comparison because it is very direct and poignant based on what is

happening in the world today.  So much has gone on with this fad.  Laws have been passed to ban it.  It has been used as an excuse to stop young men and pat them down because it is seen as "thuggish"

Let's take a moment to talk about what goes into the average stop by the police.  Three people, men usually, all armed surround you and one of them runs his hands over one arm, then the other, up and down your torso then buttocks and then finally up on and down each leg often lingering at the genitals. More often than not, there are flashing lights and it is done in plain sight of passing drivers and everyone else.  It is embarrassing and demeaning to have another man put his hands on your genitals in public without your consent.  Can we acknowledge this?

We are ok with this though. Why?

We say that we as a society do not want to see men's underwear hanging out.  Still, the thing that inspired me to write this story was the fact that I saw a young lady wearing the same pair of boxer briefs that I was only she was wearing them as shorts and I was wearing them under a pair of khaki Dockers where they could not be seen.  So if these "thugs" were just wearing the boxers (another thing that was a fad when I was in high school) they would be ok?

Still, black men do not have the PR team that other groups do.  There are no Thug Shaming walks or rallies where young black men hold up signs saying "Not Asking For It" .  The problem is where we are ok with placing the onus on the young men in this case.  It is a case where we say that not only is it ok that we stop you for something that you are wearing and generating probable cause based on what we are wearing, but the we are in fact "asking for it".  Can we start stopping young women and saying that they look like hookers for what they are wearing.

To add insult to injury is the fact that it is institutionalized.  That is to say that not only are you being felt up and vilified in public, but it is by public officials.    Meetings are being held, laws are being passed. We could find ourselves asking about when it will end.  It used to be zoot suits and in my day, it was overalls and floppy shoes with thick strings.  What will it be next?  If black men decide to collectively choose some other thing, will that too become something for which we can be stopped?  Or will it eliminate excuses and will we finally recognize why we are being treated as we are?