Nanny State of the Week: Alabama town considering banning saggy pants, mini skirts and more
. . . In other words, you could get in trouble both for wearing clothes that hang too far down, and for clothes that don't hang down far enough!
by Eric Boehm | Watchdog.org: Dadeville, Alabama won’t be the first town to try banning saggy pants.
But it would likely be the first town to double-down on the idea of banning low-hanging pants by going after mini skirts, short shorts and other articles of clothing that don’t meet with the approval of some members of the City Council — in the name of God and equality.
“If you come to my house, you are going to pull (your pants) up before you get on my property, much less in my door,” Councilman Frank Goodman, who seems to completely misunderstand the distinction between private property and public ordinances, told the Alexander City Outlook.
If he wants to tell anyone who visits his property he or she must adhere to a certain dress code, well, that’s a bit odd but he’s certainly allowed. Applying that same dress code to a town of 3,200 people is both nannyism and more than a little bit authoritarian, given the implication Goodman seems to view it all as “my property.”
But the councilman has a good explanation for his proposed ordinance: God told him to do it. “I prayed about this; I know that God would not go around with his pants down,” Goodman told the Outlook.
That’s an interesting perspective – one that seems to create more questions than it answers. Does the ever-present, all-knowing creator of the universe even wear pants? Does God exist in a physical form that would even allow him (or her, or it) to actually wear pants? Was “thou shalt not wear pants that expose thy lower waist or upper butt-cheeks” a lost 11th Commandment?
Goodman, in case you couldn’t tell, is 66.
There’s plenty of good reasons to oppose an such an ordinance, or any government edict that attempts to tell people how to dress or otherwise express themselves.
City Councilwoman Stephanie Kelley, for example, thinks Goodman’s proposal is biased against men, who are more likely than women to have their pants hanging low.
Her solution: Amend the ordinance to include articles of clothing that girls wear, too.
“My concern is (that the ordinance) should be for everybody,” Councilwoman Stephanie Kelley said. “I think for the girls, with these shorts up so high looking like undergarments and dresses so short, I don’t want us to be showing favoritism.”
Yes, yes, of course. Because it’s OK to violate the right to self-expression as long as you’re trying to violate everyone’s rights equally.
The ordinance is still up for debate and will likely be presented for a vote later this month, according to local news reports. Based on those same reports, it seems as if the ordinance has plenty of support from members of the council.
That’s a shame, because this kind of seemingly innocent nannyism is worse than it seems at first blush.
Frayda Levy has the right idea about things like this. When she spoke to Watchdog in April about her Freedom Day initiative, she specifically brought up bans on saggy pants and a violation of freedom, even though she admitted she doesn’t like the style and would prefer if people didn’t wear their pants like that.
People might make decisions you disagree with, or wear things you think are silly, but even something as simple as the freedom to dress as you want is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted, Levy says.
“Our reaction should be ‘Wow, I’m glad I live in a country where people can do that,’” Levy told me at the time. “The bigger picture is ‘live and let live.’”
Amen to that. As Voltaire may have said if he lived in the 21st century: I do not agree with the amount of slack in the waist line of your pants, but I will fight to the death for your right to sag.
---------------
Eric Boehm is a reporter for Watchdog.org. Follow him on Twitter at @EricBoehm87.
Tags: Nany State, Alabama, saggy pants, mini skirts, Watchdog, Eric Boehm To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
NO SAGGING PANTS OR MINI SKIRTS: Applying that same dress code to an entire town of 3,200 people is both nannyism and more than a little bit authoritarian. |
But it would likely be the first town to double-down on the idea of banning low-hanging pants by going after mini skirts, short shorts and other articles of clothing that don’t meet with the approval of some members of the City Council — in the name of God and equality.
“If you come to my house, you are going to pull (your pants) up before you get on my property, much less in my door,” Councilman Frank Goodman, who seems to completely misunderstand the distinction between private property and public ordinances, told the Alexander City Outlook.
If he wants to tell anyone who visits his property he or she must adhere to a certain dress code, well, that’s a bit odd but he’s certainly allowed. Applying that same dress code to a town of 3,200 people is both nannyism and more than a little bit authoritarian, given the implication Goodman seems to view it all as “my property.”
But the councilman has a good explanation for his proposed ordinance: God told him to do it. “I prayed about this; I know that God would not go around with his pants down,” Goodman told the Outlook.
That’s an interesting perspective – one that seems to create more questions than it answers. Does the ever-present, all-knowing creator of the universe even wear pants? Does God exist in a physical form that would even allow him (or her, or it) to actually wear pants? Was “thou shalt not wear pants that expose thy lower waist or upper butt-cheeks” a lost 11th Commandment?
Goodman, in case you couldn’t tell, is 66.
There’s plenty of good reasons to oppose an such an ordinance, or any government edict that attempts to tell people how to dress or otherwise express themselves.
City Councilwoman Stephanie Kelley, for example, thinks Goodman’s proposal is biased against men, who are more likely than women to have their pants hanging low.
Her solution: Amend the ordinance to include articles of clothing that girls wear, too.
“My concern is (that the ordinance) should be for everybody,” Councilwoman Stephanie Kelley said. “I think for the girls, with these shorts up so high looking like undergarments and dresses so short, I don’t want us to be showing favoritism.”
Yes, yes, of course. Because it’s OK to violate the right to self-expression as long as you’re trying to violate everyone’s rights equally.
The ordinance is still up for debate and will likely be presented for a vote later this month, according to local news reports. Based on those same reports, it seems as if the ordinance has plenty of support from members of the council.
That’s a shame, because this kind of seemingly innocent nannyism is worse than it seems at first blush.
Frayda Levy has the right idea about things like this. When she spoke to Watchdog in April about her Freedom Day initiative, she specifically brought up bans on saggy pants and a violation of freedom, even though she admitted she doesn’t like the style and would prefer if people didn’t wear their pants like that.
People might make decisions you disagree with, or wear things you think are silly, but even something as simple as the freedom to dress as you want is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted, Levy says.
“Our reaction should be ‘Wow, I’m glad I live in a country where people can do that,’” Levy told me at the time. “The bigger picture is ‘live and let live.’”
Amen to that. As Voltaire may have said if he lived in the 21st century: I do not agree with the amount of slack in the waist line of your pants, but I will fight to the death for your right to sag.
---------------
Eric Boehm is a reporter for Watchdog.org. Follow him on Twitter at @EricBoehm87.
Tags: Nany State, Alabama, saggy pants, mini skirts, Watchdog, Eric Boehm To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home