Saturday, August 25, 2007

Should "Droopy Drawers" Be Banned in Public?

Atlanta City Councilman C.T. Martin has introduced legislation that would ban clothing that shows off underwear; boxers, thongs, sports bras or even bra straps. However, his main focus would be to ban "droopy drawers"; that is, wearing baggy pants that hang around one's thighs exposing the underwear.

“I don’t think women should have to see that. I don’t think young girls should have to see that. I don’t think children should have to see that,”
Martin told Ann Curry when being interviewed on the Today Show.

Though I agree with Martin that the droopy drawers style is in poor taste and has the potential to be offensive to some, I cannot support any sort of a ban on those who would choose to wear this style in public. Despite it being a completely obnoxious fashion statement, it does not expose the genitals, thus cannot be legally classified as "indecent". Tasteless, yes; indecent, no. And the last time I checked, there were no laws against simple bad taste.

An employer might legitimately ban the wearing of saggy, underwear-showing pants, but there's no justification for outlawing what people wear on their own time in public.

And as a former police officer, I have to mention that this style made it much easier to catch suspects -- wearing baggy pants with crotches hanging down around one's knees makes it a whole lot harder to run from the police!

Thoughts?

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