I read earlier in the week on ysmarko about various laws being passed across the US to ban baggy trousers that show off people’s underwear.

Last week, Atlanta became one of the largest cities to join a growing movement in the U.S. to consider fining or jailing people for saggy pants. The Atlanta City Council is holding hearings on a proposal by Councilman C.T. Martin to impose a civil penalty such as a fine for “the indecent exposure of his or her undergarments” in public.

That means young men no longer could wear their pants hanging off their hips, exposing their underwear. The law also could target women in pants cut low enough to reveal the strap of a thong, a style popularized in music.

Well it seems airlines are at it too, trying to kick an unsuspecting 23 year old woman off a flight for “inappropriate” clothing. This is what she was wearing:

It all reminds me of the media storm kicked up in the UK over hoodies a couple of years ago. Dictating what people can and can’t wear in public is bordering on ‘Big Brother‘ territory. Of course some fashion is inappropriate or offensive (unlike the two examples above), but should we react by trying to ban it or instead call for dialogue and understanding? I’d love to raise the question with our youth groups and see what they think. After all it is them that will become victims of this type of discrimination.