Saggy Pants and 'Respectability Politics' in Dadeville, Alabama

Dadeville, Alabama, city council member Frank Goodman has some thoughts on fashion. He’s proposed an ordinance that would fine what he calls “slacking”—allowing one’s pants to sag below the waist or wearing skirts that show one’s legs. This puts Dadeville in the company of several other cities that have attempted to police saggy jeans and miniskirts. The city of Albany, Georgia could once boast that it profited from fining saggy pants.

Goodman’s fellow city council member Stephanie Kelley was concerned that the ordinance would have a discriminatory impact on boys. So she proposed applying it to girls as well. As Kelley told The Daily Beast, “When you got on short shorts or a short skirt, leaving nothing to the imagination… it’s like you’re advertising.”