Keep Your Pants On

Forget all the strife in the world. The Iraqi War and all those other conflicts around the globe. The issue of greatest importance is in the news again. Yes, that's' right. It's the great debate in my own Louisiana legislature and many others in the U.S. over those "sagging trousers" that kids wear today. Debate continues, and a new law against showing one's underpants or other parts of their " forbidden regions" is soon to pass. One day it may be a criminal offense in my state to wear clothes that intentionally expose a person's "underwear, genitals or public hair". The law is aimed at a particular faddish style of dress adopted by some young men (teens and early twenties, in particular who mostly took the concept from "hip hop" artists and the prison system manner of dress, where prisoners without belts often have slipping pants), who intentionally wear their pants below their waists so that large sections of their underwear, and sometimes anatomy, are exposed. Hehe Don't worry. I did not attach a picture of myself in that style to demonstrate visually how offensive it is.
Not many people dress that way, and probably the parent should regulate inappropriate dress by kids, but the issue is big news as much for the absurdity of it as for any real need to legislate the habit. On one side is a group of "community leaders" who say it is the government's job to intervene when societal norms break down, as evidenced by what they see as inappropriate dress. On the other side are civil libertarians who say the bill is an affront to freedom of expression (as free expression also includes the right to freely display bad taste) and gives law enforcement officials too much power to harass the innocent (or in this case, the crude).
For instance, police might arrest young men with drooping pants but allow breast revealing female fashion.
The bill sponsor of one sagging pant attempt in 2004 said, "We are trying to educate our people that in our society we have a line of decency that should not be crossed, and that line starts at the waist area." Well... what about some other alleged "indecent exposures". Is a woman's cleavage indecent? And what about your friendly plumber who routinely bends over to fix a pipe and exposes his nasty butt crack? Don't pretend innocence. I know you looked!
We all have been disgusted by the infamous plumber butt crack. In one sagging pant porposal here violators of the law would be subject to perform 3 days of community service in a local fire department (I have no idea why there) and could be fined up to $175.
Sigh.... It's nice to know that the politicians of my state are dealing with life's more important issues.