In Louisiana town, wearing low-rider pants may cost you

Supporters say the new ordinance aims to curb indecent behavior while opponents say it infringes on freedom of personal expression.

from the June 18, 2007 edition

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DELCAMBRE, La. - Buying jeans three sizes too big, young men across America, many of them black, are taunting both the laws of gravity and fashion by wearing their pants below their behinds.

But if they won't heed the age-old mother's lament to "pull your pants up," will judges have to step in to enforce a general belt-tightening?

As states, cities, and activists across the country either outlaw or hold belt rallies to draw attention to the trend of "saggin'," Delcambre, La. (pop. 1,700) last week took the boldest step yet. Getting caught with one's pants too far down could now cost $500 in fines – or six months in jail – at least on this side of Bayou Carlin.

"It's just unbelievable what they do with their pants," says Carol Broussard, the town's mayor. "What's next? Are they going to take their pants off completely?"

To be sure, it's not the first time middle America has kvetched – and even passed laws – about fashions from bell-bottoms to G-strings.

But in its zeal to right what they see as a fashion wrong that touches on immorality and indecency, critics say this gritty Cajun shrimp-and-oil village has waded into a racial and generational morass.

"This isn't so much about comfort or carelessness or letting something fall where it naturally falls, it's a specific look and a statement which some people have to work hard to affect, sometimes seeming to defy gravitational laws," says Robert Thompson, a pop-culture expert at Syracuse University in New York. "It represents a certain attitude and style that people are very nervous about."

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