By Mohamed Mukhtar
Boys. Let me give you a word of warning before a phrase is written on the following subject matter. This article may put ants in your pants. Here is what led me to write an article of this nature. Ahmed is a distant relative of mine and enjoys clubbing and partying. One night, he wanted to go to a party and asked me to give him a lift. Since I rolled right past the partying age, I asked him who the partygoers might be. He gave me a short answer – his friends. When we neared where the event was taking place, I found myself hearing 50 Cent. Those of you who shy away from music, 50 Cent is a name of East Coast hardcore rapper.
At the drop off point, my eyes caught the crowd, who was teens sprinkled with early 20s. I could not fail to notice how the boys dressed. It seemed the dress code was baggy trousers, pants hanging below and no belts. I turned to Ahmed and asked, “what led your trousers move from your waist to your hips?” He looked at me if as I were deranged and said haughtily, “Hip-Hop.” At the wrong time inside a place so wrong I felt the need to say something, but I convinced myself to talk about this issue later.
Today let me start with a nettlesome question. Does Hip-Hop teach you to drop your pants too low so everyone can see everything? If you have not found the above question galling enough, let me say polite society considers baggy clothing as an affront.
In response to my uncomforting statement someone will retort as an answer what Hip-Hop teaches, which is “I am who I want to be in the sense of not being what people want me to be”. Against this I can say people naturally prefer certain clothes and hairdos to express themselves. Whatever you wear somehow reflects your personality. Brian Tracy, a leading authority on personal and business success, writes, “The fact is that when you first meet a person, he makes a judgment about you in approximately four seconds, and his judgment is finalized largely within 30 seconds of the initial contact.”
If a boy wears his trousers too low as if he is proud to show off his boxer shorts and his hat cocked to the side and walks as if one leg is shorter than the other, he may be classified as a yob. My imaginary heckler might then say that the way a person dresses does not necessarily mean everything. But I have a good put down line which is of course that is true but your clothes reflect your taste and not who you are.
If my line of reasoning is not plausible, then mull over this short story. A nine-year-old girl from St. Paul said, “A boy at school bent over to wash a table, and I could see his boxer shorts. The next day, he bent over again, and I could see that he didn't change his underwear”. The moral of the story is that girls know and count the number of underpants that you have and if you cannot afford to have a new one everyday bury your shorts deep under your trousers or they will simple consider you as an impecunious one rather than a moneyed one .
My invented critic might argue what someone wears at school is beside the point and what matters is what one does at school. My punch line answer is if you are in learning environment, you should know that you are not there for fashion inspection but you are there to learn. Even if you are not confined to cloistered academics, it is important to remember that people make assumptions or opinions about other people according to their appearance.
Most of the boys wear what they think looks nice on them and some of them dress what they think will get others excited. And it is debatable the sartorial depths to which fashion has now sunk or rose. But I am not sure how boys expect to show girls their masculinity when they cannot even run without holding up their trousers.
My made-up badgerer might say this is a typical debate, older boys badmouthing young boys. It is said, “The cow forgets she has been a calf.” If that is not enough, I suspect that some boys are gunning to get me especially how I used to dress in my early days. Let me make them easy and do it voluntary before a hotshot makes me.
For the record, I make no claim of higher moral ground or better fashion code. Back in my heyday, I used to have Lionel Richie’s hairstyle, not his current shapely look, but big his old Afro hairdo and wear tight fitting clothes opposite to current buggy clothing - (mum please don’t remind me how my small frame looked in those clothes). Nike and Reebok footwear was unheard of; I used to wear high-heeled shoes.
This article is not intended to offer a moral compass and let us put aside older boys Vs young boys debate for another discussion another time. However, let me make this humble request: b oys leave more to the imagination and avoid pants bordering on the obscene. Furthermore, it is important to know that Hip-Hop gives you an identity and not only clothes. For example, Hip-Hop portrays anything that is fashionable or suitable to the wider society as being weak and encourages boys to act like m acho jerks or loose canons, dress like criminals and take drugs to earn bad boy image and draw respect.
Mohamed Mukhtar
London, UK
Email: [email protected]
