Thursday, July 14, 2005

The dress code thing

Had to submit this to the college tommorrow - and wrote it today. Although i have to submit it in handwriting for some reason I also typed it out on the comp. The "fpor some reason" phrase can be used ambigously.
anyway:

One the twenty third of June, Vijay Kohle, the vice chancellor of the Mumbai University decided that the students of the university had an indecent dress sense. He therefore proposed a dress code:

What will be allowed:
-Salwar Kameez – no deep necks
-T-shirts that don’t expose neckline or navel
-Jeans but no low waist

What won’t be allowed
-Short Skirts
-Body hugging tops
-Sleevless tops
-Shorts
-tank tops

This move was met with widespread opposition from the students, who felt that they were mature enough to police their own morals, and that the vice chancellor did not need to interfere with the student’s dress sense.
However, the Vice Chancellor’s efforts must be appreciated. His motives for suggesting a dress code were simple. It was an effort to reinforce the Indian culture and tradition amongst the newest generation of youngsters. It was an attempt to maintain the decency of the college going public. The move was aimed to make the city safer for young girls. It intended to create an atmosphere more conducive to edification, by preventing unnecessary distractions amongst hormonally charged boys and girls. Some people from the college going crowd itself argued that this move promoted equality and hence should be encouraged. It is widely acknowledged that a line had to be drawn somewhere, to maintain some modesty, and the Vice Chancellor just went ahead and did it.
Nevertheless, there was little support for the dress code. What was really atrocious was that this was the way the university reacted to the rape of a girl by a drunk cop at Marine Drive. It seemed to think that the problem was with the dress sense of the girl, and not at the dysfunctional cop. This is exactly the point – the problem does not exist, or at least, the wrong problem has been addressed. Most collegians dress decently whenever they are going to college as it is practical. The schedule does not allow people to dress up everyday, and on the rare occasion that some people choose to go out dressed boisterously, they do so well aware of the risks involved and amply protected. The fact of the matter is that college students do not dress indecently, at least not most students, and not on an everyday basis. The few students who are an exception to this norm, get pressurized to tone down by their peers, if not from their parents and neighbors. Rapists will remain rapists no matter how girls dress. Moreover, it is not the responsibility of the Vice Chancellor to prevent such rapists.
To the credit of the vice chancellor, maybe the timing of the ban was just an unfortunate coincidence. One might be inclined to ask – if the college student does not dress indecently, they why all the opposition to the ban? This is because the Ban is not comprehensive. Because of the ban, some minor and totally decent experimenting is curbed. Because of the ban, the college student cannot wear kurtas on jeans, or ponchos, or even Bermudas.
The solution is pretty simple – if the teacher feels that the dress of any pupil is too alarming, then he or she should be allowed to leave, and what happens outside the classroom is none of the university’s business, and should be left entirely to the freedom of the individuals.

-AMJ

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