Why do people automatically assume someone is a thug because they wear baggy clothes and sagging jeans?

Question

Let me just say, I definitely think its distasteful for someone to wear their pants sagging, but there are just as many "thugs" that wear business suits, shirt and ties, and we encounter them everyday.

josieb,

You missed the point i was making. Let me give you an example of what I meant. Ken Lay dressed in business suits all the time but he robbed his company and his employess of millions. If thats not "thuggish" then I don't know what is.

Answer 1

Because that's how thugs dress.
First impressions count and you only get one.

Answer 2

Psychology.They could be hiding anything under there.I worked in a supermarket for many years as a teenager.We would also be alert when someone came into the store wearing baggy gear.They were a prime theft threat.I remember years ago seeing an article about baggy clothes.It showed how much weaponry could be hidden under baggy clothes.The amount was astounding.I wear baggy stuff sometimes,and i definitly get looked at differently as opposed to jeans and shirt.

Answer 3

For the same reason that people would automatically PRESUME (assume is not the correct word) that if they saw a man with a stocking cap on his head and a gun in his hand that he's about to rob someone/someplace!

Presumption is not always truth, but it's wise and has even saved lives. I would consider them to be pretty safe and even healthy. Remember the old saying "if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck"?

I think people often confuse presumptions with stereotypes.

Presumption - belief on reasonable grounds or probable evidence.

Stereotype - a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.

Because of the hundreds of self-proclaimed thugs I see on tv with the baggy clothes, saggy jeans...because I grew up in "the hood" and lived there most of my adult life and saw hundreds more of self-proclaimed thugs...when I see someone with that attire, I PRESUME they are PROBABLY a thug, though I leave my mind open to the fact that I could be wrong...it could just be a person that hasn't yet acquired the wisdom to avoid looking like something they don't want people to presume they are.

Can you see me wearing wraps all over and nothing showing but my eyes (like a Muslim woman) and telling people to stop thinking I'm Muslim because I'm Christian? Hey, either I'm confused or I'm trying to confuse others!

In summary, people should present and represent themselves the way they want people to see them.

Answer 4

1. I've never considered youthful males, with baggy clothes & sagging jeans "thugs".

2. Kids are just wearing the uniform of their generation, just like we all did growing up. That's fashion for their generation.

3. Those that break the law and harm other human beings are dangerous, regardless of what they dress like. I want to see dangerous people behind bars.

Answer 5

When someone doesn't have much connection with a society or culture they rely often on popular media to fill them in on what these people are like. Unfortunately the media is a shallow source of information and so types of dress, dialect, etc. become stereotypes.

And even though Lay stole millions of dollars more than the average mugger, most people are more affraid of people who might hurt them physically for a few bucks.

Answer 6

Many people assume that because that is how the media portrays "thugs." You never see the media portray a thug as someone in a business suit, or someone dressing very nice, its always the guys in the baggy clothes with the saggy jeans.

Answer 7

It seems like people who look like they have some hygiene skills and maybe some jewelry on or chains or whatever and that certain look and walk--you know kinda funky like--want you to have that impression of them. I think they want to look that way because they like it and want to be called a thug. That does not mean they want to be called or thought of as stupid. But I think the word thug is appropriate for that look. I know lots of jerks who were all types of clothing. Thug is not what they are usually called though, it just depends on what they wear and also-how they act.

Answer 8

When someone wears their clothing this way, they do not respect their own selves. Of course thugs wear business clothing for special occassion and then slip back into their thugs clothing representing themselves to be what they like. No excuse a thug represent himself as a thug.

Answer 9

first of all there is no such thing as a thug. only people who view other people as different and wish to label them.
second of all saying that people who wear baggy clothes are "thuggish" is like saying that girls who wear too much makeup are not satisfied witht themselves and want to hide beneath the facade of being pretty. when this is not true at all, most of the girls i know wear makeup because THEY LIKE IT!!!!! its just what they do. IT also saying that everyone who wears cowboy boots are cowboys..which if the whole "thuggish" statement is true....i know a lot of cowboys. ;-}

Answer 10

stereo type of things I really dont car what they wear I am use to seeing boys dress that way..... I beleive others think that they are thugs because that is the way they think sereo type is like an automatic way of thinking... I feel its disrespectful to think that way but if you dress in that certain matter then you might as well not take it as an insult because you are putting yourself out there.

Answer 11

People usually dress to suit their personality. If you dress like a thug, expect people to think of you as one.