Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, have banned people exposing their boxers in public with low hung jeans. If caught you face a $50 fine, for a second offence it’s $100 and for a third it’s another $100 plus some community service. Gulp.
Now, I can hear a certain section of my audience sitting back in their chairs and saying “Good! Serves them right, I don’t want to see your underwear, cover yourself up, what’s the point of having your trousers that low? It’s just silly…. I mean, I know they say it’s fashionable but that’s taking it too far. In my day we would never have done such a thing. Kids, huh….. etc….”
Everyone has their own opinion on fashion, some choose to ignore it, others embrace it, and others get it completely wrong.
But surely it should set off alarm bells when the state is telling you what clothes to wear. North Korea allegedly has set haircuts you’re allowed to sport and women in Iran have to wear a hijab in public, but I’m not sure it’s a road we really want to go down, is it?
Whether you’re a lover or a hater of the exposed pantaloons, as long as you aren’t seeing actual bum fluff or crack, is it really that bad?
You don’t complain at the swimming pool or the beach when you see men in shorts. It’s the same deal people, get over it. Whether it looks ridiculous or not (and it often does tbh) it’s none of your business until there’s nudity involved.
I’m sure the law won’t catch on elsewhere, but if I was a member of the state of Louisiana, I would be concerned… I mean, sometimes your belt might break, or you forget to do it up tight enough, or you bend over to pick up a heavy box of something or other and all of a sudden you’re breaking the law.
A local NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) chief, Jerome Boykin, said “There is nothing positive about people wearing saggy pants” — perhaps, but there’s nothing negative about it either.
The official ordinance had this line in it – “Appearing in public view while exposing one’s skin or undergarments below the waist is contrary to safety, health, peace and good order of the parish and the general welfare” – safety, health, peace, welfare? What on earth?
So, it’s a debate that will rage on in rich Western countries with not enough real problems to deal with for decades to come. But let’s just keep in mind the fact that it doesn’t matter what people wear AT ALL.
