One of the members of my FaceBook Group bought up a topic we
have heatedly debated many times, the sagging of trousers and specifically
questioning whether it is appropriate and if so in what contexts. It immediately occurred to me that my response
would require more than a few paragraphs and so I opened Microsoft word and
began to compose what I felt was a suitable response. I did this chiefly because I recognized the
issue is far greater than the sum of its parts, it’s not merely an issue of
style or etiquette, it is a cultural issue and a very large one. Wearing ones trousers low to reveal a great deal of boxer or underwear and of course a bit of derriere has expanded to include all races, nationalities and socioeconomic levels of men, it is truly a global phenomenon, not just a thing isolated to The Black American Community anymore...
Any wise historian will pay close attention to the vicissitudes of popular culture, its volatility is often far less powerful than its longevity in the memory of mankind as a whole. Many of the largest popular movements have been utterly lost to human history. The point of the matter is to determine how relevant popular culture is to the survival of elements of general culture, in this case is it a matter that is pivotal to the very survival of the Black American culture?
Any wise historian will pay close attention to the vicissitudes of popular culture, its volatility is often far less powerful than its longevity in the memory of mankind as a whole. Many of the largest popular movements have been utterly lost to human history. The point of the matter is to determine how relevant popular culture is to the survival of elements of general culture, in this case is it a matter that is pivotal to the very survival of the Black American culture?
So who is this new menace to society, wearing his trousers low walking with a distinct waddle and mechanically pulling his trousers up every five or six steps he takes? At first glance he appears to be the classic black male that
somehow missed the boat to manhood! Or
is he a boy in a man's body? Maybe 30 years ago but now he might be any man, White, Black, Asian, Arabic, aboriginal, in any city around the globe.
I have heard accusations about the nature of exposure of these men's derrieres ranging from a rise in the culture of the homo-thug to a breakdown in core cultural standards of presentation to just kids having fun... In the final analysis any of them, including a broader mixture of them could represent the truth...
I guess this topic got started because somebody decided that wearing ones pants low enough to reveal ones underwear was socially unacceptable... If so this person has had a very uncomfortable 30 years or so as what started as an inner city, east coast rap and hip hop trend has exploded into a worldwide fashion extravaganza! Still there is something distinctly unsettling about seeing this style worn by children and grown men especially as it begins to leak into areas where traditionally, a gentleman's attire is supposed to conform with what mainstream culture considers to be proper and professional. To get to the point, some people strongly feel that it is inappropriate for men to wear their pants sagging in any context or in most outside of the privacy of ones home indoors, this, as you all know, is an ultra-conservative position that deserves to be subjected to careful scrutiny before being adopted as any kind of rule or social standard… I usually don't like to make such permanent judgments about a person based merely on their fashion choices since I hold that apparel is an external expression not an intrinsic marker of one’s true self... the determining factor for me comes about when we examine closely if the attire was merely arbitrary or if it is truly a social statement that being made? We as black men have to examine closely the very nature of this style to determine if it is in fact a formal social affirmation and if so what kind, what does it really mean? We then are kind of forced to have to qualify it, (which is getting into dangerous territory), to ascertain where it falls along the hierarchy of, “The most appropriate types of fashion affirmations”? We also have to understand that it is now a much larger issue than can be contained by the finite boundaries of our black communities... black men are not the only ones wearing their pants down low... but our concerns are immediate and localized so it is a legitimate concern to focus on usage by black men in isolation as a specialized cultural concern.
I have heard accusations about the nature of exposure of these men's derrieres ranging from a rise in the culture of the homo-thug to a breakdown in core cultural standards of presentation to just kids having fun... In the final analysis any of them, including a broader mixture of them could represent the truth...
I guess this topic got started because somebody decided that wearing ones pants low enough to reveal ones underwear was socially unacceptable... If so this person has had a very uncomfortable 30 years or so as what started as an inner city, east coast rap and hip hop trend has exploded into a worldwide fashion extravaganza! Still there is something distinctly unsettling about seeing this style worn by children and grown men especially as it begins to leak into areas where traditionally, a gentleman's attire is supposed to conform with what mainstream culture considers to be proper and professional. To get to the point, some people strongly feel that it is inappropriate for men to wear their pants sagging in any context or in most outside of the privacy of ones home indoors, this, as you all know, is an ultra-conservative position that deserves to be subjected to careful scrutiny before being adopted as any kind of rule or social standard… I usually don't like to make such permanent judgments about a person based merely on their fashion choices since I hold that apparel is an external expression not an intrinsic marker of one’s true self... the determining factor for me comes about when we examine closely if the attire was merely arbitrary or if it is truly a social statement that being made? We as black men have to examine closely the very nature of this style to determine if it is in fact a formal social affirmation and if so what kind, what does it really mean? We then are kind of forced to have to qualify it, (which is getting into dangerous territory), to ascertain where it falls along the hierarchy of, “The most appropriate types of fashion affirmations”? We also have to understand that it is now a much larger issue than can be contained by the finite boundaries of our black communities... black men are not the only ones wearing their pants down low... but our concerns are immediate and localized so it is a legitimate concern to focus on usage by black men in isolation as a specialized cultural concern.
I too am tired of viewing the growing tide of the sagging
couture which has lingered in the fashion consciousness of black men for the
past thirty-some years now since the advent and rise of Rap, Hip-Hop and Prison
culture in the Black-American community but my advice is to carefully analyze this phenomenon so that we do not make
the same wrong choices we have made with other aspects of The Post-Civil Rights
culture as they relate to the black community. We need to fully understand it’s
meaning and purpose and we also need to respect and recognize its cultural
relevance and significance. Any despot
will tell you that the tide of popular culture is a bitch to quell! On the other hand I do not wholly advocate adopting the careless attitude of the police chief in the legendary movie "Casablanca" who's lack of opinion or concern waived with the winds of political popularity...
I am a solutions-based person which means that I believe
that for every criticism there must be a solution designed to fix the problem. Too many times we focus only on the problem never
getting to its root finding it loom above us later even “Bigger and Badder”
than before! So here are the problems
and also the solutions at least as I see them:
1.
PR0BLEM-1: The first problem is that there is no general
consensus on exactly why black men are allowing their trousers to sag exposing
their derrieres. Like any other
sociological study this phenomenon is in dire need of definition not just in
street-terms but in a form that can be received by the mainstream professional
community.
2.
SOLUTION-1: Therefore the first solution is that a study
must be done! No more un-researched,
bootleg assumptions should be acknowledged.
3.
PROBLEM-2:
The second problem is that once credible, scholarly research has been accomplished
and synthesized, what are we going to do with it?
4.
SOLUTION-2:
The Black American community is overdue at fixing or replacing it’s
think-tanks for implementation of its core objectives and missions. We need a reliable vehicle to administer the
solutions to this research on a comprehensive, grass-roots level in every Black
American community in the country. Are
we truly up to the challenge?
5.
PROBLEM-3:
The sustainability of the Black American culture in general and
specifically of the black male culture is currently a major problem on the verge
of utter failure.
6.
SOLUTION-3:
The primary focus of new and revitalized Black American think-tanks will
be to pragmatically examine sustainability issues and develop short and
long-term plans for the greater sustainability of The Black American Community
in general. The smaller issue of sagging
pants is only a subset of the larger problem and its corresponding solution.
FIN
Written by David Vollin
No comments:
Post a Comment