Mentality

“Teach your daughters to worry less about fitting into glass slippers and more about shattering glass ceilings”- Unknown

“Girls should not wear provocative clothes.”

“Good Indian girls cover up.”

If you are a girl and you live in ‘Free’ country called ‘India’ you have probably heard these lines before. Do women have a right to wear whatever they want? My answer, and I know this is not the popular one, is qualified, not always, within reason, depending on the situation and location. Does anyone have the right to wear whatever they want all the time? Of course not. Sure, you can blame society for its law and order problems; you can say that life isn’t fair in expecting a woman to take precautions rather than preventing men from “eve teasing” or sexually assaulting a woman. In fact, it’s not just men; a lot of Indian women believe the same too. Many Indian women also think and sometimes say, “Why does she have to wear skimpy clothes?” or “Why did she have to go watch a movie late at night?” This is the mentality of society. We need to convince them that what a woman chooses to wear is her choice and that it’s important for society to protect that choice.Sensitivity to women’s issues will come from educating our broad population about power, individual rights and free will. Meanwhile, she can and she will wear whatever she wants. Not because she is modern or inspired by the West or has corrupted her values. It is simply because she is a free citizen living in a free country called India.