Is it all in the “pain” of fashion? 2006 brought on a new phenomenon with Baltimore’s urban females. Somehow letting your belly out became tre’chic’! Now I am not talking about the 6-pack size 6 in Paper Denim Jeans with her belly exposed to show how hard she has worked to keep up her body. No, we are talking about sizes and stretch marks in jeans that make it all to impossible to hide that bulge. Some of these UBD’s don’t even have children to blame for their lack of elasticity in their stomach regions. Low cut jeans are not to blame totally. But by wearing these trendy jeans it pushes whatever “extra” that won’t go down to go up! Then some how the idea that “the tighter the better” came along and now we have UBD’s with tight low cut jeans and layered too small shirts. OUCH… it looks like it hurts! All in the name of fashion? Can it be as a society that we have been immunized in thinking that the “in look” must be had by us all… no matter to our income? No matter to our body shape! Is it all worth it? Medical reports show that these trendy “low rise jeans” are causing medical issues in women who frequently wear them. Pressure from the jeans is placed on your hip area and not to mention your internal organs and this is causing females to have medical issues that we have not had before… ever! Young girls, teenagers to young adults are having medical issues that would normally not be seen until the senior years. Guys, African American, Caucasian, Latino, is this appealing to you? Do you look at them as easy, nasty or just plain lazy?  As a race, African Americans are susceptible to diabetes, high blood pressure and dozens of other diseases and health issues that are directly related to our culinary tastes and traditions. Lack of exercise and poor nutrition are also culprits. But our outlook on what’s society says is “Sexy”, and what’s “in style” is also to blame for these Fashion No No’s. From ancient African culture it has been the ideology that a healthy woman is a woman of stature, a woman of size. We (African American’s) have carried this ideology with us from Africa to Atlanta to Baltimore. Unfortunately for our health we left out a tremendous factor in this thinking…. just because you are “of size” does not mean you cannot be healthy. In Africa there were no fried foods or packaged sweets to eat. Nigeria did not have a corner carry out to sell you a chicken box and a jumbo half and half. When in Africa you exercise as way of traveling to and from work, to feed your family, as your only means of transportation! In America, particularly in Baltimore, the only exercise these UBD’s are getting is from walking to Chow Young’s Carry Out to get their “half a cheesesteak with everything and large fries with salt, pepper and ketchup” and don’t forget the jumbo half and half! Then the UBD’s are faced with the idea and the image that we have been subliminally fed here in America that skinny is “always” “in”.  So they try to fit their size 14 into a size 10 and call a day. No matter how uncomfortable, no matter how they are perceived. They are “in style” and that’s all they care about. Are getting yeast infections, pinched nerves and skin irritation worth it? Just so you can say you are dressed in the latest Apple Bottoms, House of Deron or Juicy designer jeans? Is it really worth your health to be cute? Or is it like “they” say, “you got to pay to play”?

Written by: Jules Jackson 1/2/2007