Tuesday, July 26, 2011

I don't understand the perspective in which our clothing is viewed, that of women and men. Traditional attire for women are sarees and salwar kameezes, and it is extremely important for us to wear them often, if not everyday. We are supposed the uphold the land's culture when we do so, we being 'women'. If that's the case, then men get away with wearing trousers and shirts, and that's not traditional, least in India.

Why the bias? Obviously, the woman is supposed to follow and live life according to some set of rules, And men, they have an option to do or not to.

I find walking and working in a saree quite cumbersome, but i do enjoy it at times. There is one instance which really (in my opinion) does not make much sense. During a wedding, the bride is decked in finery and of course in sarees. Women these days, find spending time wrapped in a saree tiring (including me). While a mans steps into the wedding pandal (for want of a better word) in a suit in which they are definitely comfortable.

I don't really understand this. If the idea of upholding one's culture, by way of one's dressing is to be performed by a section of the society, does it mean much?

The perspective matters a lot.

1 comment:

Radha Pyari Sandhir said...

You know, I think about this all the time. Even thought about it today: I went to the mall and saw a girl in shorts, and only noticed it because girls generally don't wear shorts to the mall, at least in Kolkata. And I thought "You go, girl!"

I was *happy* to see her wearing shorts. Of course, she was victimized to looks of disgust on the 'aunties' faces and lecherous stares of the men. It was ridiculous.

We should be allowed to wear whatever we want. At work places like universities and research institutes which are slightly more 'conservative' women are expected to wear salwar kameezes and sarees. Why aren't the men expected to wear kurtas??

You're absolutely right. It doesn't really mean anything if 'culture' is to be upheld only by a section of the population.

Nice post!