Get your hanes off my first amendment right!
The land of the free and the home of the baggy pants?
JACQUES MARCOUX, VOLUNTEER STAFF
The United States, in its fourth year of occupation in Iraq, is fighting to defend individual freedoms while spreading democracy and stability throughout the Middle East. This should be expected from a country that self-proclaims to be the leader of the free world. The war, unsurprisingly branded as Operation Iraqi Freedom by the White House, is a battle against terrorism, oppression, totalitarian tyrants and possibly even Paris Hilton.
The United States would like to be viewed on the world stage as the global watch dog, showing its teeth whenever or wherever morality is threatened. Ever heard of the expression: “when you point your finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you?” The United States most certainly has not. They are quick to launch global military campaigns against countries that violate human rights, but lack responsiveness to their own encroachments on the liberties of their own citizens.
This past August, an Atlanta city councilman proposed amending public decency laws that would outlaw the display of undergarments and baggy pants in public. These provisions would mean that a woman could get fined up to $500 for displaying bra straps or a T-bar (street jive for “thong”). From the baggy pants perspective, banning the display of your Hanes has been seen as an attack on hip hop and African-American culture.
The state of Alabama passed legislation in 1998 banning the sale of sex toys, claiming that “the state’s interest in preserving and promoting public morality provides a rational basis for the challenged statute.” This has been heavily contested in court by several sex shop owners, but has been turned down by the appeals court several times.
Up until 2003, an archaic Texas law criminalized homosexual sodomy. To this date the courts have yet to fully determine if sexual privacy is a fundamental right protected by the U.S. Constitution. Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau once said, “There is no place for state in the bedrooms of the nation.” It is that kind of leadership that makes one grateful to live a country such as Canada.
One of the most controversial issues in the U.S. involves the military’s infamous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding the enlistment of homosexuals. The act prohibits any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation, or from speaking about any homosexual relationships, while serving in the United States armed forces. The reasoning for this, as per the bill is that “it would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.”
Finally, to the delight of social conservatives, the Bush administration has openly limited government funding for cervical cancer research because it has a strong link with sexually transmitted disease, which is generally contracted through sexual activity outside of wedlock.
Solely based on these few examples, it is clear that the United States is as guilty as those they seek to invade and destroy under the usual guise of “freedom.” Even without recourse to heavy hitting examples like Guantanamo Bay’s lawlessness exemplified by violations of the Geneva Convention, or the Bush administration’s indignation towards any form of environmental policy, the verdict still stands: guilty.
The undertones are clear. Civil rights in the U.S. are under attack. Rise up baggy-pants-wearers and proudly let those waist bands hang well below your butt cheeks! Woman of all ages, I implore you, let your bra straps hang out from under your tank top! We must fight back against these intolerable infringements on the rights to express ourselves freely.
Come to think of it, I may just have a lucrative business opportunity on my hands . . . “Freedom Bras” anyone?
Jacques Marcoux is a fourth-year commerce student.
