As I was waiting to speak with a business owner, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable in beholding the scene before me. There was a male with his pants so far down that he had to stand with his legs apart to keep them from falling around his ankles.  His boxers were showing in all their faded glory. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but my eyes were not beholding any beauty whatsoever.

Towns and cities in various states across this great country of ours have adopted ordinances that will allow local police officers to fine anyone who openly and blatantly exposes underwear that causes offense to others. According to www.nydailynews.com, in April of 2013,  Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, adopted the ordinance with an 8-1 vote. Towns in Georgia and Florida followed suit in hopes of making people aware of the image they are portraying. 

What is that image? What comes to a person’s mind when he or she sees someone that has difficulty walking because of sagging pants? What do employers believe? 

Well, as someone who sees this on a daily basis – along with the rest of the U.S. – I find that sagging pants makes one look unkempt.  Wearing pants in such a way creates the image of someone who does not care about the future or reaching goals and has an “I don’t care” attitude about life in general.  

I could be sadly mistaken. But as a professional and a business owner, I could not allow that in my business. As a mom, I really don’t want it around my children – especially my son, who is now 16. Thank goodness he despises the trend. As a woman, I find it offensive when I walk into a public area and a male is all but exposing himself. 

Has society as a whole conformed our way of thinking when it comes to the sagging pants being appropriate? Or is it really true that common sense is still around and no one cares to see someone else’s underwear in public? I prefer the latter.  I like to believe I am capable of forming my own opinion. 

Where did it begin?

We have all heard the story that this fad began in the prison system as a way for a prisoner to let other inmates know he was “available” or that he was already “taken.” According to www.Snopes.com, that is false. But can we believe Snopes – considering their most recent downfall? Either way, it is a horrible stigma to have attached to a fad. And helping popularize this fashion atrocity are pop culture idols such as Justin Beiber, Lil Wayne, The Game and many others.  Please note the coincidence that these people have either served time in jail or prison.

The Risks

According to a 2011 article from www.hiphopandpolitics.com, wearing pants below the posterior can lead to problems such as severely bad posture, hip degeneration, lower back problems, bunions, life-long knee misalignments and erectile dysfunction.  

What if an emergency happened and the guy had to run? I’m extremely curious as to how he would make it out of a burning building. Hopefully, he’d survive.

On a positive note, if someone wearing sagging pants commits a crime, he is much slower, allowing the police to catch him. According to www. christianpost.com, in 2013, a robber in Brooklyn, New York, punched a woman in the face and stole her cellphone. He was easily caught because his sagging pants caused him to trip when the pants fell to his ankles.

Will the cities and towns of Cumberland County ever adopt an ordinance prohibiting sagging pants like the one in Louisiana? Who knows? Not much is being said, and now it is basically a personal issue for those of us who are against the sagging pants.  We will have to agree to disagree. Maybe it does come down to the cliche of “To each his own.”  I just know that my “own” wears pants that buckle or button above the hips.