Earlier this week I was climbing the stairs out of the subway on to Prince Street. In front of me was a 20-something year old, whose pants were hanging low, underwear bunched up around his waist. Everyone has seen this "style"of dressing and of course, everyone has an opinion about it.
Sagging is a manner of wearing trousers below the waist, revealing much of the underwear. Sagging is predominantly a male fashion. (further proof that most women are generally smarter than men). Women's wearing of low rise jeans to reveal their g-string underwear (the "whale tail") is not generally considered sagging. (good to know).
An individual that participates in the practice of sagging may be referred to as a sagger. (clever). In some countries this practice is known as 'low-riding'. It has become popular since the popularity of wearing brightly colored and patterned 'boxer' underwear.
Sagging was adopted from the United States prison system where belts are prohibited. (Of all the places where you don’t want your pants around your ankles, I believe that jail is number one.) Belts are sometimes prohibited to keep prisoners from using them as weapons or in committing suicide by hanging themselves.The style was later popularized by hip-hop artists in the 1990s.
It has since become a symbol of freedom and cultural awareness (what culture promotes dressing like a hobo?) among some youths or a symbol of their rejection of the values of mainstream society.(They're rejecting wearing pants correctly as a statement? How dangerous and progressive… you might as well protest toast or carpet or crayons.)
No comments:
Post a Comment