´just a little somethin' i read...

on Wednesday, the 3rd of October, of this year, an edition of City Paper was released; in City Paper's "The Mail," the following letter was published:

---

Bum Rush

Come on, Madam President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Why bother wasting the taxpayers' and the council's time, debating "why" men wear their pants hanging down revealing their butts in Baltimore City (Councilmania, News, Sept. 26)? Seriously, aren't there really more pressing issues concerning Baltimore? Like maybe poverty, guns, deaths, filth, abandoned homes, HIV/AIDS . . . HIGH TAXES!

I, for one, couldn't care less that these young men want to wear pants exposing their macho booties. It's all good to me, especially since gay black nightlife in Baltimore is all but nonexistent, and most Baltimoreans are not connected on the internet, leaving me little local fare to ogle. (To hell with The Wire, whatever happened to Baltimore's Wi-Fi initiative?) Since moving here from the D.C. area, one of my favorite pastimes is now sitting on my stoop watching all those thugged-out booties walking by. Ummmm ummmm! And you have to appreciate that if the booty is out, there is definitely no gun in the waistband of those flimsy briefs. So it tends to be a safe hobby, and way more appealing than watching "real birds"!

I think that most young men don't know that this fashion started from prison culture (regrettably, as do many fashions in African-American hip-hop culture). In prison, an exposed butt signals other inmates that the owner of said exposed butt cheeks was open for business--a prostitute. For a pack of cigs, a few dollars, some drugs, whatever, the exposed booty would do a trade. (Fair exchange ain't no crime, right?) It also signaled that the person exposing those luscious buttocks was taking it just there. I guess I can help Ms. Rawlings-Blake with her question about what those men are seeking--its formal name starts with the letter "P" (and its common nickname starts with "D")! Ponder that!

I think that if more of our youth actually knew where this fashion started, they would not only stop it, but they may stop being so hard on gay dudes. It is clearly evident, from the masses of exposed buttocks in the streets to the most high-fashion runways in Milan, that gay men have a powerful influence on fashion everywhere, even in thug gear.

Wallace Farmer
Baltimore

---

the contents, thereïn, probably speak enough for themselves.

yeah?