LOS ANGELES: In recent weeks the controversial urban/ Hip Hop inspired practice of sagging pants has come under fire. Two weeks ago Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Dez Bryant was kicked out of a shopping mall along with several of his friends for wearing sagging pants.
In the state of Florida an anti-sagging bill was passed deeming the practice as vulgar. The bill which was the brainchild of Rep. Hazelle Rogers was passed unanimously by the committee.
In the state of Arkansas Governor Mike Bebe recently signed a bill banning sagging pants in public schools.
“We feel the bill can improve the learning environment in schools,” said Donna Morey, president of the Arkansas Education Association.
One concern of the Arkansas General Assembly was that “student competition over the manner in which clothing is worn could lead to violence and injuries during school hours,” according to the legislation. Lawmakers also said that students should learn to dress in a way that is acceptable in the workplace as they prepare to enter it.
Along with this wave of anti-sagging legislative being proposed or enacted around the country comes a brand new study from the National American Medical Association that shows the health risks of prolonged ‘sagging’.
According to posture and vitality expert Aaron Parnell, one of the biggest health problems is severe bad posture. Parnell who treats over a dozen young people a year with problems directly related to wearing baggy pants or sagging pants without a belt says many fail to realize is that to keep their pants from falling down, young people are forced to walk in an awkward manner. They rotate their legs inwardly at the knees and turn their feet outward to keep balance. This creates bad posture.
He noted, walking this way can also lead to hip degeneration and low back problems. Further, rotating your legs like this everyday can lead to life-long knee misalignments and bunions.
A two year study by the NAMA set to be released on Monday April 5th builds off the ‘bad posture’ findings of Parnell. Dr Mark Oliver Mansbach explains that the continuous wearing of sagging pants severely impacts sexual performance.
“In our study we discovered that sagging pants wearers are 70% more likely to prematurely ejaculate during intercourse. There is a 78% likelihood that sagging pants wearers have erectile dysfunction”, Mansbach noted.
“We are finding increasing number of cases where men as young as 23 are having severe cases of ED. The cause is traced back to the constant mis-aligning of their hips and lower torso from the gait (people’s walking patterns) which are symptomatic to sagging pants.”
Mansbach estimates that 75-82% of the men who wear saggy pants have some sort of sexual dysfunction. Because of the machismo associated with Hip Hop, gang and urban culture most men will keep the problem hidden. They mask their sexual inadequacy by displaying fits of anger and nihilistic behavior toward each other and toward women who they can not please.
“It’s the dirty little secret in urban communities that no one wants to talk about”, Mansbach said.
He points to the huge jump in sales for online Viagra and sexual enhancement drugs. Many urban males who lack health insurance for expensive erectile dysfunction remedies have turned to over the counter solutions which contain sildenafil or vardenafil the ingredients found in Viagra and Levitra, two of the most commonly used ED medicines.
The problem with over the counter ED remedies is that they cause the an over flow of blood to rush leading to early onsets of high blood pressure and other dibiletating side effects. Others have turned to excessive drinking or taking ecstasy bills.
We spoke with rapper Kim Sharpton of Staten Island, NY who has been on a crusade of sorts warning young men to stop sagging.
“When I was younger I was constantly getting it in and running the town. I was sagging hard B. The problem was I couldn’t get hard when the time counted”, Sharpton explained.
“At first I thought it was my diet or lack of exercise. Later I thought it was psychological because I was getting stressed out. It’s not like I could share my problem with the homeboys. Women wanted to know what the deal was and so I had to come up with all sorts of excuses as to why I wasn’t capable of delivering a nice package ya dig?”
Sharpton noted that he became so angry that he started writing songs targeting other rappers who wore sagging pants. At one point he even threatened to lynch them.
“It was bad B.. real bad, but I’m doing better now. Exercise, good diet, a strong belt and counseling to get my confidence back, help get me on track ” Sharpton said.
“You wont catch me sagging ever again, luckily we diagnosed my problem early on so the conditions could be reversed, but most young brothers aren’t so lucky”.
Sharpton concluded, “This NAMA study is serious and should come as a dire warning to young men everywhere. ‘If your sagging your lagging’… in the bedroom..Now that’s one to grow on..
For more information on the soon to be released NAMA study click HERE