29.4.05

thanking Krishnaraj Chonat

When you said street harassment,I was thinkingabout the 'institutionalised harassment' that is beingmeted out to students [particularly female students]incolleges around India,with regard to strict rulesimposed on 'proper dressing'. Many 'enlightenedinstitutions' have also recently joined this selfprofessed moral[atavistic] bandwagon. I remember this incident in college some years agowhen on 'ethnic day'[a ridiculous day/occasion tocelebrate anyway] girls who wore Ghagra cholis weresent home for 'improper dressing'[read exposedbellies]. When some of us argued that women who workin the fields in Kerala and belong to a particularcommunity often wore only blouses and the traditional'mundu',and that it is the ethnic wear of thatregion,some of the lecturers [one of them teachesTRADITIONAL PAINTING] opined that ethnic doesn't mean'so ethnic'. Perhaps one has to NOW understand[unfortunately],that even if the ethnic wear of a particular communityor region were reflective of their socio-economicstatus or occupational requirement ,its 'acceptablelimits' still need to confirm to those in whose midstit is presented,regardless of its origins or context.

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