Sorry to be the one to tell you, but. . . .

Cultural fads come and go. Some are fun; sometimes they're cool and other times they evolve without folks knowing much how or why they evolved.

For instance, the knuckle knock handshake (shown below)


is rapidly becoming popular. But its origin is pretty disgusting.

This form of social acknowledgment originated in prisons with large minority inmate populations. Many prisoners come from third world countries where toilet paper is not used and they STILL don't wash their hands after using the toilet. So. . . . . rather than exchange the disgusting material by shaking a guys hand, prisoners knock knuckles.

By knocking knuckles, they were less likely to be exposed to another man's toilet/wiping habits.

When you engage in knuckle knocking, you are pretty much telling everyone either
A) You do not wash your hands after going to the bathroom, OR;
B) You think the person you're bumping with doesn't wash HIS hands after he goes to the bathroom.

You may not want to convey such a message when you knock knuckles but the message above IS IN FACT what you ARE conveying when you knock knuckles, so stop it. The gesture itself is either revolting or insulting. Either way, an activity not to engage in.

SAGGY PANTS

Another "fad" which evolved in prison are saggy pants (shown below)


It began in prison when inmates who were too lazy to tie the drawstring on their prison pants, walked around with the pants sagging. It quickly developed into something far worse.

When a gang of men gang raped another man, they would force him to walk around with his pants sagging as a sign that he had been gang raped. Later, when the homosexual portion of the jail caught-on, they adopted the sagging pants as a way to advertise their desire to receive anal sex. When these two new uses for sagging pants developed in prison, those who were too lazy to tie the pants started tying them and only the two sexual connotations remained.

Sooooooo., . . . . . if you walk around with you pants sagging around your ass, you are saying to the world either
A) You were gang raped by men and are being forced to advertise it, OR;
B) You are gay and you want another man to penetrate you anally.

That may not be the message you are TRYING to convey by wearing saggy pants, but those ARE IN FACT the messages you ARE conveying by wearing saggy pants. Either way, not a good thing to be saying on the streets and definitely NOT cool.

MEN WITH EAR RINGS

Men wearing ear rings traces its origin back to old sailing days. Men who were merchant sailors and traveled all over the world wore a single gold ear ring so that wherever and whenever they died, the value of the ear ring would be enough to pay for a simple casket and burial.

Of late, men with ear rings takes on sexual overtones. If a man wears an ear ring in his left ear, it supposedly signifies he is straight. If a man wears an ear ring in his right ear, it supposedly signifies the man is gay.

There's a whole slew of guys who wear ear rings in both ears. That means they go both ways!

Sooooo, if you are a guy and wear an ear ring, now you know the message you ARE IN FACT conveying rather than a message you THOUHGT you were sending.

PIERCINGS

Piercings developed in Africa as a way for tribal leaders to advertise their tribe and, more importantly, to mark their property or livestock. In humans, piercings replaced branding because so many people died from infections after being branded with a hot iron.

Soooo, if you wear a piercing on your face, you are telling the world that you are someone's property. A slave. You are "owned."

If you wear a ring piercing in your nose, you are telling the world that you are livestock; a cow or other beast.

If you wear a piercing in your tongue, you are telling the world that you are a stupid horse that that needs to be hurt on the tongue to do something . . . . . . to this day, horses are guided by reins that clamp their tongues.

If you wear a piercing in your navel or genitals, you are telling the world that you are someone's personal property, a slave, you are "owned."

Just thought you'd like to know the origins of this latest "fad."

Do you know any more ? I hope our R.A.P. e.r ... A2K members view this thread. Interesting hey...?