We have entered the Age of Speculation, that time between the election of a new president and the inauguration. The news media are full of speculation — and some actual news on the matter. What will the Obama administration do about the economy, Iraq, Iran, Detroit, etc.? What kind of White House puppy will be Obama girls get? What impact will Michelle Obama have on policy, parenting and fashion?
Here's another speculative question: What impact might the new president have on fashion? The question is more significant than the then-revolutionary preference of John F. Kennedy to go hatless. Kennedy's dislike of hats was the death knell of the fedora, pork-pie, bowler, top hat and all the rest that were a standard part of the male wardrobe until the 1960s.
I'm eager to see what impact Obama will have on the fashion tastes of African-American boys and young men. Obama's fashion sense is 180 degrees from the gangsta-influenced saggy pants, gold chains, backward caps and oversized T-shirts of the rappers, pimps and drug dealers who have led African-American fashions for the past generation. Obama's style is the epitome of conservative, Ivy League, business professional. His dark, two-button suits, white dress shirts and neat ties proclaim successful, confident, respectful, traditional, modern. His neatly trimmed hair and his trim, athletic body also make a statement about his priorities. It is impossible to imagine Obama dressed in saggy pants with the waistline below his buttocks, showing off his boxer shorts, a cockeyed cap on his head, and a baggy dark hooded sweatshirt adorned with gold chains.
This fashion style originated by musicians and emulated by many professional athletes (but not, notably, Tiger Woods) has dominated black fashions, likely because many young black males saw rappers and basketball stars as their only successful role models. But his election Nov. 4 makes Barack Obama by far the most successful black role model in the country, perhaps in the world. And he is, by any definition, a role model, succeeding against the odds to earn an Ivy League degree and a Harvard Law diploma. His astoundingly rapid political rise culminated in an election that many see as revolutionary. If young black men — or young white men, for that matter — want a role model and mentor, Obama should be the one.
The first indicator of how successful Obama will be in turning the "angry black male" attitude into "yes we can" confidence might lie in how quickly, if at all, young blacks eschew the rapper/pimp style for presidential fashions.
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5 comments:
Gee. Could you perhaps cram in just a few more racial stereotypes?
Unless of course, you made similar observations when Bush was elected? "I wonder what influence Bush might have on the fashion sense of rich spoiled 'Daddy gave me a BMW for my Birthday', trying to look all ghetto, partying, priveleged white frat boys?"
No huh? Well perhaps you should also be told that white boys and young men share the same fashion tastes you attribute to "African-American boys".
It sounds like the "Angry Old White Man" attitude needs a little inspiration as well.
the fashion style of having one's pants hang below their backsides did not originate with gangsta-rappers. It originated in the prison community. I've heard it has two origins - the first that it was a sign that the wearer of saggy britches was available for sex - while the second, and most likely, is that the prison pants were issued without benefit of a belt for fear of its use in suicide or as a weapon.
I for one would love not to see the underpants of so many young people. It's a stupid look and certainly not a sign of rebellion, but a sign of conformity to fashion trends
.....and who is racial? anonymous #1?
Grow up and quit whining about reality. Politically correct is no longer politically correct.
Some people who go around bad mouthing 'hate speech' and turning free speech into socially acceptable phrases while our society falls right thru that black hole should take a lesson in reality.
You kind make us all worse off in our thought process.
Grow up.
I think anonymous #1 has missed the point of the post. President-elect Obama is being noted as a new, and inspiring, role-model for black & white young American boys. For fashion and character. We all realize that the rappers of the world have reached beyond the African American community in their influence. I am a white female who enjoys rap music daily and am young enough that I'm accustomed to the saggy pants & chains. However, I am thrilled that young America will have an intelligent, responsible, and fashionable role model in President-Elect Obama. Reminds me of what Bill Cosby was in the 80s.
I agree with Anonymous One. It is filled with racial stereotypes because the writer does not say white boys he says african american boys. It comes across as saying Maybe black kids will try to dress like Obama now that a black man is President.
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