When we speak of gender equality at a national level, we speak of progress by leaps and bounds; we boast of rapid change. Can we say that things have changed from yesteryear and the olden days of our grandmothers? Definitely. Can we say, however, that this change has taken place rapidly or by leaps and bounds? Evidently not. Atrocities on both scales, large and small, are committed against women on a daily basis. Some of these issues are far too complex and multi-faceted to be dealt with by a nineteen-year-old Journalism student. What a student can speak about, nevertheless, is the misogyny that plagues the educational institutes that span our country. This is a topic that may seem not as pressing nor nearly as pronounced, however, it is a topic that encompasses the small acts and phrases that slowly chip away at the self-esteem of young girls.
When a child of sixteen is told that she cannot go up on stage and perform because her knee-length dress is deemed too short. What are we teaching her? That her effort and talent are worthless if her clothes don’t fit the mindset of the small-minded few; that she will only be respected and valued if her attire satisfies an authority figure. Her self-esteem touches new lows and her self confidence takes a dive. That child is now convinced that her clothes matter more than her mind, her ideas, and her aspirations. Perhaps, one day, that girl decides to force herself to believe otherwise, and just maybe, she, someday, decides to write about how that shaped her and countless other girls like her all over the nation.
From a very young age, girls are taught to watch their skirts, keep them lengthy, or suffer shame and ridicule should they fail to do so. One might say, “But that is just school policy; that is just the dress code. It’s the uniform.” Why then does it lack this so-called uniformity? Why are male students of the same age then exempt from this code? Needn’t they mind the length of their school shorts lest they be shamed in this regard? No, they need not and will never have to. For this was never about policy; this was about policing. It was and still is about policing young girls’ bodies and thus, shaping their minds to do the same, to feel embarrassment, to link their worth to the length of their skirts. Unfortunately, low self-esteem and a warped perception of one’s body are two complementary issues that come along with growing up in such harmful learning environments.
Some schools go so far as to threaten to monitor their female students’ undergarments to ensure that they’re “in keeping with the rules”. Even if such a threat is hollow, a suggestion of this nature is still beyond despicable and wildly inappropriate. To make the insinuation that any school authority figure is allowed to carry out such a heinous task is incredibly vile. But incidents like these are to be expected and, worse, to be borne if you happen to be a female student in such a world, one where your education is not nearly as important as ensuring that the boys have a supposedly distraction-free environment in which to study.
Consciously or unconsciously, schools are drilling into the minds of their girl students that they are distractions, that they are something to be ogled at on a slow afternoon after a big lunch. This idea is then absorbed by all students, male and female alike, whether or not they intend for it to happen. Thus, turning into a whole new distressing and discouraging predicament for our society as a whole. Furthermore, some colleges and universities still choose to impose a dress code of only traditional wear on their students. But, once more, the male students are oh-so-easily released from this compulsion. This occurrence begs the question yet again, policy or policing? It being an issue of safety is ruled out, crimes against women happen in clothes of all shapes, sizes, patterns, and cultures. It being an issue of “Respect your traditions” is out as well; do the male students not have to respect these traditions too? Trousers and shirts are hardly Indian, much less traditional. And hence, once again, it is determined that this is not a case of “We’re doing what’s in your best interests”. But, instead, it remains a case of apparent moral policing and shaming young girls and women.
Not all schools and universities employ these hypocritical regulations and harbour these dated ideologies. Some may even take strides towards changing a few of them. This they may do out of genuine concern or just as disguised pandering. And we could always pat them on the back and congratulate them for their progressiveness. But, instead of applauding them for doing the bare minimum and calling it a day, should we not ask, “Do we not owe the young women of India more than this? In a country like ours, shouldn’t taking one step forward and two steps back, stop?”
