Dallas Billboard Implies Link Between Sagging Pants and Homosexuality

Posted by Pam Spaulding at 8:16 AM on October 28, 2007.

This post, written by Pam Spaulding, originally appeared on Pam's House Blend

Dan L. has a diary up about a dress code in some Dekalb, IL bars that bans "baggy clothing" -- referring to the still-popular style (god knows why) of wearing saggy pants, ostensibly to reduce the number of young urban men (i.e. of color) coming in. Dan asks whether this policy is racist or not.

This "style dragnet," which at one bar also includes "hoodies, do-rags, hats and caps, all baggy clothes, jerseys, large chains, basketball shorts, sleeveless shirts, "bling" and warm-up pants," is going to sweep up white suburban hip-hop star wannabes as well, so I think that while this is partially about race, it's also about class and culture as well. These bars are looking to filter out a certain kind of clientele -- and members of hip hop culture are on that list.

I guess you can add homos to that list as well, at least if you are in the city of Dallas, which is running a campaign to shame young men into pulling their pants up lest they be tagged as gay. (NPR):

The campaign has a signature song, "Pull Your Pants Up," by Dooney Da' Priest, that links so-called saggin' with being gay. After the BPP blogged NPR's original report on the public service announcement, listeners objected to lyrics they consider homophobic.

...An accompanying billboard says it's rude to be "walking around showin' your behind to other dudes." The song's refrain is "Be a real man -- pull your pants up."

In an interview with a local television station, Dooney explained that saggin' comes from jail, where he argued that showing your boxers has a very particular meaning. "You're letting another man know that you're available," Dooney said.

I find this amusing in some respect, because I'm sure the vast majority of these "tough guys" trying to emulate gangstas in lockup, walking around with their asses out, aren't going to like that message one iota.

Certainly, with the level of homophobia spewed by some in hip-hop culture -- Dooney Da' Priest and the city of Dallas are banking that this is the one tactic that may actually scare these guys out of their low-riding pants pronto -- because there's nothing worse than being mistaken that you are telegraphing a desire to engage in sex with men.

Will this tactic work, given the failure of dress codes, ordinances and all sorts of other methods to get rid of the saggy look?

A news report on it is to your right.

Tagged as: youth, hip hop, homosexuality, homophobia, sagging pants

Pam Spaulding blogs at Pam's House Blend.