Dangerous Legal Territory for Baltimore

Copying similar actions around the country, City Councilwoman Helen Holton recently declared war on the baggy pants that have become fashionable among the hip-hop crowd. Frankly, it's difficult to understand why all the concern now, considering that this form of dress has been popular for at least five years. But as the Associated Press reported last weekend, "Wrong Trousers" laws are being enacted around the country, from Trenton to Atlanta to tiny Delcambre, Louisiana. According to the AP,

...wearing pants low enough to show boxers or bare buttocks in one small Louisiana town means six months in jail and a $500 fine. A crackdown also is being pushed in Atlanta. And in Trenton, getting caught with your pants down may soon result in not only a fine, but a city worker assessing where your life is headed.

The more astute members of the hip-hop generation are mildly amused, wondering aloud whether workers in the construction trades--long noted for their occasional show of butt cleavage--will be caught up in these laws.

On the whole, the mainstream media is treating the matter like a big joke. The news articles generally feature some corny double entendre (see "crackdown" in the quote above), or a catchy headline, like The Examiner's editorial titled "Let the pants issue fall." The Baltimore Sun has assigned the story to Tanika White, a reporter who covers the fashion beat.

The self-anointed arbiters of taste argue that these fashions make young people unemployable, and that point cannot be argued. But getting turned away from a job interview over inappropriate attire should be message enough, unless perhaps employers have become so afraid of reprisal that they will make another excuse not to interview or hire someone. Were I in a position to interview potential employees, the baggy-pants types would hear something on the order of, "You look like an idiot. Come back when you're properly dressed and we will discuss whether you are qualified to work for me," or "I won't have customers in my shop who dress like you, much less employees." It does not require a maternalistic government to accomplish that.

Missing from all this mirthful coverage--and what newsie doesn't relish an opportunity to make a politician look foolish--is the fact that these laws are following a trend started among our declared enemies in the Middle East.

Here's a brief rundown of similar stories from Iran, which I find troublingly similar:

Posted 11/16/06 on KRSI:

On land confiscated from Ahwazi Arabs, Iran is training, financing and arming Islamist death squads in Iraq. With Tehran's approval, these killers are murdering Sunni Muslims, men wearing jeans and shorts, unveiled women, barbers, sellers of alcohol and videos, and people who listen to western music or who have a stylish haircut.

July 16, 2007 on The American Israeli Patriot:

Iran To Arrest Men With "Western" Haircuts

The Iranian news website Etemaad reports that as of July 23, men with long or extravagantly styled hair will be arrested. They will be ordered to cut their hair and then report to the police; apparently for a check up.

Tehran Chief of Police Ahmad-Reza Radan;

"The streets belong to the sphere of society, not that of the individual. It's not possible for one to appear in society as one pleases."
...No indication has been given as to the punishment for non compliers and whether this new law will apply to visitors.

August 23, 2007 on The BBC

Iranian police have closed more than 20 barbers' shops in the capital Tehran.
The authorities say the barbers were encouraging un-Islamic behaviour by offering Western hairstyles, tattooing and also eyebrow-plucking for men.

Police say they have inspected more than 700 shops during a two-week crackdown in the city.

The move is part of an annual campaign against what is known locally as bad hijab, or un-Islamic clothing, that this year is also targeting men.

Hundreds of women and men have already been cautioned.

Police say that as well as avoiding Western hairstyles and make up, barbers should not pluck customers' eyebrows.

The closure of the shops comes several months after barbers were warned that they could lose their licences if they did not comply.

However, police have denied a report that they have ordered barbers not to serve customers wearing ties.

Some young boys in Iran sport very wild hair styles, using gel to make their long hair stand on end in a fashion not seen in other countries, correspondents say.

 

It's bad enough that we have gun control laws in the USA that some critics suspect were modeled after those of Nazi Germany. Enacting fashion-control laws modeled after the practices of Islamofascists is simply beyond the pale.

You can't legislate taste. Hell, after all these years the Supreme Court still can't offer a more concrete definition of pornography than Potter Stewart's observation (more than 40 years ago) that he would "know it when he sees it."

Now that the Baltimore city government is so dominated by women (mayor, deputy mayor, city council president, state's attorney, six out of 14 council members, 1/3 of city department heads, and the city comptroller) can we expecte the most earnest efforts of the government to be acting as the Fashion Police?

tags: baltimore  fashion  hiphop  sheila dixon  

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