I remember reading an article which said centuries before, woman’s clothing was made in a fabric so flimsy and soft that an entire saree can be folded & placed inside a matchbox! Well..I just wish I could see how women looked in it. Definitely good enough to ignite the spite of today’s moral police.
Be it the Mangalore incident, or dress codes inflicted upon students in colleges – both might differ in the way it had been carried out but they share similar intensity. Woman’s body by itself is a taboo and it is sad to note women are forced to please men and the society even with their attires. A woman should dress up to please the society and avoid dressing up to please the society too! You can suggest a rich one to be safe with their wealth- but can’t ask a person not to become wealthy due to a fear that he/she might be robbed. Even if you suggest anything closer to that, you’ll laughed at as a buffoon. But when it is suggested women shouldn’t wear any dress that might DISTURB a man, it is considered as a step taken for woman’s protection. Only in the case of women, we find the victim being suppressed. Doesn’t it sound absurd?
I find it discriminatory for three reasons. One, curiosity over woman’s body still exists, might exist forever and men get distracted by women, whether she is in saree or in jeans. You can’t discriminate women for residing in a curvaceous female body. While salwar was looked down upon by people some years back, it is happily accepted as an appropriate & DECENT outfit today. Anything new especially in the case of women, surely gives rise to criticism before it is accepted.
Two, just because a man looks at a woman, i.e., because society just can’t bear a woman’s body attracting the gaze of a man to whom she doesn’t BELONG, should she be denied her right to choose what she wishes to wear?
Three, it is commonly stated women arouse men with their INDECENT clothing and hence men indulge in sexual harassment & so on. There can be no claim as pathetic as this one. Rural women clad in sarees have been subjected to sexual harassment and in large numbers. They never wore jeans or minis and DISTRACT men. If that is not enough, what does a 5 year old do to attract men? So, does it mean we should find ways to lock up girl children till they grow up? Oh Wait! Growing up as a woman only adds to a problem. May be women just shouldn’t exist?
When a 18 year old is given the right to vote, it is ironic to note she doesn’t even have the right to choose what she can wear. I’m not going to ask people to GIVE women the freedom; Freedom is not charity but everyone’s right. All am saying is, don’t suppress us. We’re trying to float. If you try to push us under water, we shall come up with double the force.
The Author Lavanya is a post graduate in Electronic Media from Anna University. After being with a gender resource center for over a year she is now working part-time with Tara Books, an independent publisher of picture books for adults and children . She works three days a week happily in this feminist non-hierarchical set-up and splurges on books and movies during her long weekend.
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