The Chinese government’s recent diktat on women and appropriate dressing in subways is very amusing. We, the neighbours too have heard enough about how we ought to dress so as to not evoke the ‘naughty’ feelings in men, haven’t we? Well, it needn’t always take a semi-naked woman for the man to get excited I think. Let’s then dissect the various garments and prove how each one is actually ‘inappropriate’, contrary to popular belief.
Denims – Reveals the shape of your legs and the curvature of you derriere. Distinctly shows the gait of the lady, which could be a potential provocation. How very suggestive is this clothing right dear men?
Salwar Kameez – Heroines have danced in their salwars with their dupattas flying away in the strong gales of London, Paris or Switzerland. And enough men have seen them and recorded them in their memories to associate the salwar kameez to something provocative. Salwar kameez – ruled out!
Sari – Our heroines have long debunked the myth that the sari is the symbol of sanctity of the soul….or whatever. And enough villains have already tried to ‘demystify and decode’ the sari by pulling it off the women — literally. How can it be worn in public then? Nahee nahee.
Skirt – Ah! The bane of the corporate onslaught. With legs so completely revealed, what else could the ‘poor’ man do but to harass the ‘bad’ woman? And yes, not to forget — an equally adamant attitude that for many men is an ‘invitation for punishment.’
Burkha – Eyes they say are the window to the soul. And perhaps, a burkha-clad woman may not have revealed much of her body, but the eyes you see? The man definitely has a case to put forward – ‘she seduced me with her eyes’. Point taken.
What then is appropriate to wear you may wonder. Well, I wonder too.