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Tuesday, 7 June 2011

Code of Honor



A hipster is perched 3 inches below
the navel!
It happened again today! I sit cringing in the counter when the teen sways casually to her own rhythm and reaches the exit. As if on a trance, all eyes follow her back- men in awe and women, as usual in envy. Her low waist jeans and stretch tops are the cynosure of every eye in the small hall and the pretty teen knows that fully well. The extra sway of her hips say the story and i shake my head in disbelief the hundred and twentieth time this week. Women these days, especially the teen aged little angels seem to be treading on the ramp rather than the roads. I curse my day when it starts with a peekabo of my neighbor clad in nightie. Aged more than sixty, ti is funny when madam dear sweeps the threshold in red nightie. I almost died controlling my laughter when my colleague aged forty entered office one fine morning draped in a salwar. I am not a conservative who says saree is for women. It is a wee bit odd to see otherwise saree-clad elderly women in salwars.

Teens are ruled  by dress code these days. Colleges and Universities have specific dress codes and students ought to abide by that. I am glad most girls wear sarees and salwars to colleges rather than the dangerously perched jeans and catastrophically hiked minis. I was mortified in shame when i saw a teen in a busy shopping mall flashing her builder's bum in a low rise. How responsible parents of Indian households, who profess strict virtues when it comes to dress, handle such youngsters is appalling. When i was hovering in the threshold of youth, i was strictly forbidden from wearing jeans. After much pestering and begging, i was granted a dull blue jean that started from the chest and extended till the ground. I loitered around the streets sweeping floors with my jean. And a word about the skirts too. They resembled 10 feet trains of wedding gowns! Whatever, i have swept my house with my jean and skirts till i was swept off my feet by husband dear! How decent is the skirt and jean depends on individual's perceptions. I totally agree.

Women these days dress to kill, not cover up. It is not uncommon to see middle aged women flaunting muscles(?) in jeans and youngsters revealing calves. We in India have the freedom to dress as we like, but should we be the cynosure of all eyes in a mall? We can dress for convenience, not to get Neighbor's Envy, Owner's Pride! Covering up doesn't seem to be the priority now, the trendy fashion statements is the In Thing. Kollywood actresses and their fashion fundas, Bollywood fashionistas and their wardrobes have become our latest craze. Lechchumi of Attaiyampatti who weighs a good 100 kgs wants to be a la Kareena Kapoor. 100 kgs can never become a size zero. So what can poor Lechchumi do? Simple, wear a hipster and frighten away the poor cattle of Attaiyampatti! So much is our copy craze we forget we are setting bad examples to our children. We forget to think about other women who suffer in silence, who simply do not have the freedom to dress as they wish!

Iran's women soccer team is world renown. The girls have the same Gulf craze for football. And any idea how they dress up and play? All draped up, not a millimeter of their bodies exposed. Want to see a portrait of an average Saudi gang of girls? Here it is-

We seem preoccupied in attracting attention than feeling comfortable. Next time thinking of wearing that hipster and tank top, just think of the pictures above. There must be a dress code for every person- he/ she must herself design that code- The Code of Honor!


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16 comments:

  1. Anonymous7 June 2011 at 02:36

    *laughing* like your attitude..SHOWED HIM WHERE TO PLACE HIS COMPLAINT!..well...you apologized....that was gallant of you....the wife peeping?...it gives room for speculation..take care.

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  2. KParthasarathi7 June 2011 at 03:52

    The culture and values vary from place to place across the world.What are taboos in certain Middle East countries are acceptable elsewhere.Even within the country the dress sense differs from state to state.The dress in beaches or ramp shows are not acceptable in weddings temples and churches.There cannot be a hard and fast rule on this.It should be appropriate to the place,occasion and local ethos.Having said this, too much of skin show in public places be it by a woman or a man should be unacceptable.
    But there cannot be any compulsion unless it borders on the obscene.The daring few who do deliberately to invite attention and appreciation should be prepared for any undesirable consequence and cannot complain.Morals are not safeguarded by too much of restriction but should be left to the families and society in respective areas.
    In US we see in all public places young girls and women in very mini skirts and scanty upper garments but passers by do not take any notice.It is a common sight.It is not that such girls /women are bad and do to attract men.It is the in thing here and blends with local culture.

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  3. Harish P I7 June 2011 at 07:40

    Low waist jeans look really pathetic..

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  4. Anonymous7 June 2011 at 17:10

    It's the western influence...in Nigeria, my eyes get insulted with ugly stretch marks buttocks! ewwww!

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  5. Anonymous7 June 2011 at 18:10

    There are two sides in response to this article.
    1.why stop some one from go by their wish?
    2.Do the ppl of West follow strict dress codes as u have mentioned. and the degree of gender bias prevails over there...

    3.The other side is cultural impact of this kinda wardrobe. even i gotta see these kind of mid-aged women (40+ or 45+) wearing a Jean and T-Shirt ,,try to boast she s a teen-ager .. why nt ppl live a real life ? thats wat i was thinking ,,whn i see such womn..
    (the articl is subjected to a vast dicussion)

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  6. L KRUPAA8 June 2011 at 16:45

    While I think we should wear what we are most comfortable with, at the same time it should not be an eye sore.
    It does not make sense to ape others. The latest trends are followed irrespective of whether you can carry it off or not.
    Wonder why people are so unmindful when it comes to others when they themselves dress like that!

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  7. Anonymous8 June 2011 at 23:24

    50-60yrs Back Thanthai periyar had said ..there should be no diff bet men and women...
    women should
    1.Wear Pant and shirt like men*(No sarees).
    2.They should cut their Hair like men
    3.And Kushboo factor ( hope TN knows that well) is a vengayam... and should nt be given importan ce at all.
    4.All his views of women wer 50+ yrs long -sighted..

    May be our Modern Mangai kal trying hard to implemnt PERIYARISM in Tamilnad.


    11

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  8. Cloud Nine8 June 2011 at 23:38

    Dear Ibhade, thanks for the comment. Apologising if you do a mistake is just humane, what is not is asking for apology when the blame lies elsewhere!

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  9. Cloud Nine8 June 2011 at 23:41

    Dear Parthasarathy, thanks for the comment. Social ethos and culture in US is totally different than in India. What irks us is aping the West in all we do, starting from hipsters to body piercings. Indian culture by itself is unique and great. I wonder why would youngsters these days copy the Western fashion trends...

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  10. Cloud Nine8 June 2011 at 23:42

    Dear Harish...hahaha* God save you from low waists;)

    Dear Ibhade, thanks for the comment. Seems Nigeria too is sailing in the same low waist boat!

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  11. Cloud Nine8 June 2011 at 23:45

    Dear Anonymous,thanks for the elaborate comment. 1, people can dress as they wish, as long as it is not obscene. The degree of obscenity might differ from person to person. 2, East or west, gender bias always prevails...
    3, May be women in forties need some reassurance from their balding husbands;)

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  12. Cloud Nine8 June 2011 at 23:45

    Well said dear Krupaa! Yes,there is no need to ape others. What suits us better would be the best attire!

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  13. Meera Sundararajan9 June 2011 at 16:02

    Nivedita, I grew up with the same dress codes as you but today values seem to have changed. Leave the clothes alone, these days it is ok to even flash your underwear publicly!!! My daughter calls me old fashioned when I tell her not to wear shorts that she has outgrown. There is so much of flesh on public display these day....!!! What we saw on screen when we were kids is now on the streets...! you have raised a very pertinent issue. Somewhere along the way we need to reflect on what is happening to us as a society. BTW I am also against men wearing shorts and showing up in public places - our family doc sent a young boy home asking him to come properly dressed when he came to the consulting room in shorts!!!

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  14. Cloud Nine10 June 2011 at 01:06

    Dear Meera, thanks for the visit and the comment. Yes, decency code in public is seldom practised these days and it is indeed disturbing to see the menfolk too resorting to such obscenities.

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  15. AS12 June 2011 at 00:20

    hii

    the girl in the first picture is looking really cheap.

    whichever be the culture, a girl must remember that whatever she is wearing, there should not be any 'unnecessary exposure' (as permitted in ur culture) and thats what my family alwayz tells me!

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  16. Cloud Nine12 June 2011 at 15:31

    Dear AS, thanks for your time and comment. Glad you follow your family's principles:)

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