According to Shashwati, three Indian universities are considering imposing a dress code on their students. Of course, this dress code applies only to their female students. Bombay University says the dress code will protect women from violent crime, according to the age old Indian principle of “she was asking for it”:
Bombay University plans to ban women from wearing mini skirts, tight tops and shorts, saying this will help prevent rape. Officials at the university say they would prefer to see women students in a traditional salwar-kameez with no deep neckline. [cite]
Officials at Bombay University also claim that this will benefit the men on campus:
“An attire should be such that it should not be offensive or cause distraction to fellow students and lecturers,” Vice Chancellor Vijay Khole told reporters. [cite]
At Delhi University, the discussion took on an ethnic dimension. Perhaps it is more acceptable to impose a dress code if you can blame it on ‘outsiders’:
A furious debate is going on among the students of Delhi University ever since Kirori Mal College vice principal Virender Kumar’s remarks that “revealing dresses” allegedly worn by girls from India’s northeast triggered angry responses. Although a chastened Kumar has apologised, girl students, particularly those from the northeast, are still furious. [cite]
Why are women from the North East being singled out? Apparently, they have a bad reputation. The author of the article claims that:
Most women students from Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur are known to wear T-shirts, jeans and skirts, at times body hugging. This, say some, invites lurid comments and unwelcome glances. [cite]
Female students from the region, however, say they dress like everybody else:
“We have the right to choose how we dress. But being comfortable does not necessarily mean wearing vulgar or see-through outfits,” said Akamla, a young woman from Nagaland who lives here. “Probably a section of Delhiites is too conservative to let women wear jeans and shorts and get away with it,” she added.A girl from Manipur called Kumar’s remarks offensive. “This is discrimination. Why should a dress code be imposed on us only?” she asked, emphasising that girls from the northeast wear dresses quite similar to those worn by ‘Delhi girls’. [cite]
In general, female students are pissed at these restrictions and they’re organizing in protest against dress codes:
The “freedom to dress” movement is rapidly catching on in the city if the signature campaign undertaken by the Students Federation of India against Anna University’s imposition of a dress code in 231 engineering colleges is an indication.Within an hour of starting their “sign up to say no to the dress code” campaign before Anna University on Thursday, 15 SFI volunteers procured 350 signatures. They had undertaken a similar initiative in Tiruchi and Coimbatore.
“The dress code is blatantly patriarchal and anti-women. If, at the age of 18, students can be given the right to elect their Prime Minister, can they not choose how they dress? Prohibiting women from wearing trousers etc. denies them the right to dress comfortably,” said Lenin, south Chennai district secretary, SFI.
Students, mostly girls, lost no time in registering their protest. “We need a forum to express our displeasure. The entire idea seems designed to go against the rights of women students. Jeans and T-shirts are an essential part of college attire the world over. Why should we be asked to keep off?” asked a civil engineering student. [cite]
They also reject the idea that dress codes will make them safer:
“We are not children who should be told what we can and cannot wear,” said a 19-year-old management studies student, Alka Mehta. “Rape is not related to what the victim wears but what is in the mind of the rapist.” [cite]“I don’t feel switching from jeans to salwar-kameez will change men’s attitude towards women, as far as crimes like rape and molestation are concerned,” Gupta added. Her friends nod in agreement. [cite]
Students have criticised the [Bombay University] proposal saying it is not the answer to preventing rape [cite]
The claim that the dress code will make female students safer is so absurd that I wont even comment on it.
No word from the male students about this subject, at all. If they’re smart, they’ll organize a “dress freely” protest, and then stand firmly behind their sisters in encouragement, or something like that 
UPDATE 1: Reader TTG informs us that:
… after much outcry and protest, DU (Delhi Univ.) decided against imposing the dress code, as did the ones in Bombay.
Unfortunately, a quick review of articles online didn’t give me any information to confirm or deny this claim. The story on the Delhi University dress code dates from June 15th, and the Mumbai University story dates from June 22nd. There is no news of the dress codes being promulgated, nor is there any information about whether consideration of a dress code was abandoned. The Tamil Nadu dress code, due to be implemented in all engineering colleges (this is the Anna University story) seems to have gone ahead. If any readers can provide me with a link to more up to date information, I would appreciate it.
Desis need to be desensitized to ‘sex’ (erm… bare naked ankles). More skin, not less.
A solution, the girls can wear what they want and rapist should be castrated. This is India for god sake! Land where women is worshipped as goddess. We gave the world the Kama Sutra; you can tolerate a tank top and shorts! And all this self righteousness has no place, not when you look at every pic of every goddess and she has huge tities! (Go ahead, get offended)
Hear hear, cinnamon rani! Let s get over this madonna/whore complex.
As I read your response, while seated Indian style of course, I began to levitate, for a great joy had washed over me – and then I began to wonder if you were mocking me, because I’ve never met anyone who has agreed with me so thoreauly.(Yes, yes, Punjabi Boy, I meant to spell it that way.)
Cinnamon Rani
yes, and I missed the part in mythology where Sarasvati was whining : “I want to wear jeans and shorts and they won’t let me. waa, waa, waa. Shiva ji is making rules we dont want to follow. Oh, am soooo helpless”
Oh puhleeze. Dont you see how dumb it is? Did you read ONE story where the goddesses waited for permission from a male deity to do what they wanted?
laughing ironically
Sumita
tef, thoreaulylazy, as I read your arguments, the clarity and brilliance of your vision washes over me and swathes my soul in yards of clean light efficient desi-chic haute couture. So I will now attempt to condense the collective cornucopia of wisdom in the following logically sequenced statements:
I’ve done one better. Let’s get a uniform for all college going goils. Let’s get an Indian lehenga designer to add reams of zardosi therein. Then, we’ll have solved the rape/sexual abuse issue. Perfect!
And how can you forget what happened to duhshasana for molesting draupadi.
Bhim tore open his breast, drank his blood(ewwww!!!) and brought back some for draupadi to shampoo with(eeeks)(I always wondered in what did he carry it and how it didnt clot) but sweet revenge, worse than castration, I think.
Nice!!(?)
Helpless women indeed!! All these girls who whine will be greatly helped by reading literature on the devi phenomenon. Jeans wont do much for their lack of self.
Sumita
If memory serves me (I left my beloved Bombay 15 years ago at age 15), these bans are regularly floated and regularly shot down. I can’t speak for Anna University in Madras, but there is NO WAY they can make this dress code stick in Bombay.
In any case, this sort of public nasty comment about rape and clothing is part of an ominous trend in India where the onslaught of modernity is being fought with spurious arguments about tradition and women’s bodies become yet another battleground against the inevitable…India has never been averse to female skin per se; traditional outfits show mucho skin, from Koli fisherwomen’s flimsy saris tucked between legs and their short, tie-up blouses, to groups of certain Bengali and Southern Indian women weraring saris without blouses (I forget exactly where in the South)…it’s telling that the ban appears mainly focused on WESTERN clothing rather than displays of skin per se (this appears to be the case at least in Tamil Nadu) but I find it especially troublesome that the Mumbai U. guy wants to see women in salwars WITH MODEST NECKLINES. This is an altogether new and unfamiliar beast, i.e. melding the traditional with an UNTRADITIONAL concept of modesty.
Anyway, typed in a hurry before I get the !@#$ out of work so sorry if I’ve left holes in the argument I was tryung to make
DesidudeinAustin,
May I first commend you in your choice of attire –sarcasm, you wear it well : )
I never used the word rape or sexual abuse. I do not think attire is to be blamed in those cases. I am not sure if anyone has ever blamed the victimÂ’s attire in a specific instance of rape. I hope not. It seems to me that people are piggybacking on news stories involving rape to bring about change in dress regulations. I think the two issues ought to be kept separate.
My contention is that, colleges have a right to put in place ‘reasonable’ dress regulations. I am ok with people quibbling about what reasonable is.
If you read my post, you will notice that I begin by quoting a girl, from Madras who wanted to wear jeans – because – that is the attire the world over. I thought that that was a weak argument.
And then I went on to bash jeans wearing Indians My problem is with both male and female ones. Which I am willing to stand by for reasons already stated.
Unfashionable? I would prefer the term “poor aesthetic choice”. This is just my subjective opinion, and I hope you will agree that I can have one.
Dhobi-abusing? Yes. If they are being handwashed. Yes, I do believe it would be kind and nice thing to do, if you didnÂ’t have your maid wash them.
White-wannabe-****** (ram, ram) I will not repeat what you said, there are so many Devi-jis present. And yes, I do find a certain subsection of Indians are very wannabe.
Neither I nor thoreauly, said a word about rape and or sexual abuse. I have no idea where you are getting this from?
tef, I thank you for your appreciation of my literary aesthetic 🙂
Agreed. I was merely commenting on the context of your discussion about dress-codes. The post (which is the context in this case), if you will scroll upwards, talks about how uni-bureaucrats attempt to explain these restrictions with the age-old ‘if they will reveal less, we won’t feel like raping them’ argument. In that context, the protest of students that want to wear jeans is not so much about culture or ergonomics, as much as it is about choice. Like you say,
the jeans-sporting chicks just want a choice. In their subjective opinion, they might go well with their khadi kurtas.
The problem is that the university removes choice in such a personal matter. That is Big-Brother-ism. Hence my gripe.
They try DD, but they cant. They’ve been trying it for over 30 years now. That itself shows how ineffective that effort is.
Sumita
“Does one need to wear a particular kind of clothing to feel free?or empowered?”
No, one needs to be able to wear whatever kind of clothing they want.
“No, one needs to be able to wear whatever kind of clothing they want.”
Deepa, one shouldn’t need to be able to wear whatever kind of clothing they want – it’s a nicety, but certainly not a necessity. Restaurants, weddings, business meetings, private schools, churches, these all have dress codes, from the strict “black tie formal wear”, to the casual, “no ripped jeans, no open-toe footwear”. I don’t think Delhi Univ will be violating people’s human rights by stipulating what people should wear, within reason. It’s the administrator’s prerogative. In fact, I disagree with there existing any relationship between uniforms and heinous sexual crimes despite numerous statistics showing that uniforms reduce (but not eliminate) lesser sexual crimes like sexual harassment, or “eve teasing” as it’s called in India. However, even these studies admit the reductions are not permanent. Once acclimatized to the more conservative dresses, the violators simply alter their standards regarding whom they feel theyÂ’re permitted to harass. Ultimately, the change needs to come from the harassers, and no amount of apparel will change their behavior. I support the UnivÂ’s decision for uniforms for an entirely different reason — the right of an institution to set guidelines for its students. Yes, their reason is stupid, but as tef pointed out, the school likely wanted to impose uniforms all along and the bogey of delivering reduced sexual harassment is just an excuse to execute the dormant plan. 9/11, Iraq anyone?
thoreaulylazy, as you mention rightly, it is unlikely that the dress code imposition will have any effect on sexual crimes. Part of the issue at stake is the fact that the institutions in question have resorted to the argument that imposing a dress-code will reduce sexual crimes on campus.
Which is why, note that they have no issue with guys wearing jeans. Note that the institutions have not deemed it necessary to save the dudes from the corrupting influence of the west.
As for the question of human rights violations, there are many civil liberties that you and I enjoy, the deprivation of which, would not necessarily cause Amnesty International to rally to your cause. For instance, the right to choose poorie over pasta for dinner tonight.
That said, a dress-code in a private restaurant is not quite the same thing as one in a public university. And people do bitch about such restaurants. Although, even in the most formal of restaurants, the dress-code is a matter of option — sure, you would feel uncomfy in a t-shirt in most such places, but it is not like someone is imposing that upon you.
In fact, if the university had laid down a formals-only requirement, or an Indian-clothes only requirement, that would be a tad antedilluvian, but nonetheless fair.
The main issue here, and I repeat, is the unavailability of choice simply for those students that have ovaries.
ban women from wearing mini skirts, tight tops and shorts, saying this will help prevent rape.
Cutting off the dicks of all men will also help prevent rape.
thoreaulylazy, Desi Dude in Austin has said what I would have said in reply to you.
If they want to impose a dress code then let them do it without this particular excuse.
DesiDudeInAustin,
In the words of herr doktor from Stepford Wives when asked why turn only the women into robots and not the men too: “oh, but they were next.”
hey, im not sure if this is a public forum but i stumbled over it and have to say something. i am a student at anna university and in the thick of the whole dress code thing.. the issue isnt the dress code itself but how ridiculous the reasons that are stated for it are.. im not sure how many are official but they range from “female students will distract the proffesors” to “it is not in our culture” to the rape thing.. it comes right down to the colors we wear(black is not allowed) and what sort of indian clothes we wear( salwars without dupattas are not allowed).. its become less of a discipline thing and more of a control thing now!!
thoreaulylazy, that is a pure speculation.
Peeps: Has Anna Univ’s decision to implement been finalized, i.e. it’s confirmed that they are going ahead?
yes it has umair..its official! the circulars have been sent out to all the departments…they are actually sending you home if you dont follow the dress code..the dress code btw is only the tip of the iceberg..hes introduced other ridiculous rules which are clearly violations of ourrights but no one is doing anything about it
Thanks for the info peeps. Their reasons seem quite nutty. I am curious do they say why you are not allowed to wear black? Is their some political subtext here. Isn’t black the color of the DMK? I got that from Iruvar. Who says you can’t learn about India through it’s movies.
And is there a dress code for male students?
oh there are reasons..but they are as moronic as they come…”black is a depressing color,the student sitting behind you will thusly be distracted by it and cannot concentrate on the lecture” the male students are required to wear pants full-sleeved shirts and shoes! in the madras heat! plus its a bias against the women..the male students should wear kurtas if the women and wearing salwars
“Black is a depressing color”– never thought I’d hear that from the city/state that made Periyar and Annadurai famous!!!
Peeps, the reasons they give really are imbecilic; btw, one other commenter here said the Delhi and Bombay Universities had withdrawn their plans after protests, do you knwo anything about this? Thanks for the update from the trenches!
yeah, there were wide spread protests in delhi and mumbai, they had to withdraw their plans for the dress code..but they are planning to introduce it agaion in a few months seeing the “success” our university is having with it..
the thing with our univ is that to the majority the dress code doesnt matter coz they dress like that anyway…they dont see it as a violation of their rights or anything..we dont have much backing even from our own student body. the vice chancellor has now banned the students from speaking to the press.. thats coz someone wrote a really caustic article about the dress code being “kinky, perverted, sexist” and a couple of other hing..he dint like that much 🙂
Anna University is now going to conduct raids to enforce its ban on cellphones. I wonder if they will try and enforce the ban against jeans too. If the University believes that jeans are aginst our culture, perhaps we should show up in Veshtis!
2 things must done immediately.
please collect dress code rule sheet from various colleges/ as many colleges as possible and get in touch with me at blanknoise@gmail.com
send in clothes worn by people who have experienced street sexual harassment at the time of the incident. whether sari, school uniform…anythiing worn at that time…
SOON!!
JASMEEN
I read something really sad the other day. In Bangalore- a young woman Partibha who worked for a HP call center was brutally raped and murdered. Guess that the police had to say
what next?? Women need to stay at home to prevent getting raped and murdered??
Ooops, sorry the link should go to the archive dated Dec 18th 2005: However I am gonna Cut and Paste it COPS SUGGEST ‘DRESS CODE’ FOR BPO LADIES
BTW Jasmeen, U rock! More power to you.
HI , I AM A STUDENT OF ANNAUNIVERSITY….. I AM TOTALLY SICK OF THE WAY THE AUTHORITIES THERE ARE BEHAVING…..THE MESS(LADIES HOSTEL MESS) IS JUST A STONE THROWS AWAY ,BUT WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO WEAR JEANS TO THE MESS. WHENEVER WE STEP OUT OF THE HOSTEL WE SHOULD BE SEEN WEARING NICELY PINNED CHURIDARS DUPATTAS .ONCE A GIRL WAS SEVERELY REPRIMANDED BY THE RC(RESIDENT COUNSELLOR).. HER MISTAKE??? SHE WAS WEARING JEANS TO THE MESS ON A SUNDAY!!!!! SO MUCH RULES FOR THE GIRLS . WHAT ABOUT THE BOYS?? THE BOYS MESS IS JUST A FEW FEET AWAY FROM OURS BUT THEY ALWAYS COME THERE IN SHORTS AND BERMUDAS… ACCORDING TO THE VC GALS IN JEANS DISTRACTS THE BOYS , SO WON’T THIS (BOYS IN SHORTS) DISTRACT THE GALS????
I am a 2005 passout of anna university. earlier there was no dress code but i have seen most girls dressed decently. even we wore a Jeans only in final year. but all the things were quite decent. i feel there is no need of a dress code, because it is a matter of choice and most girls know what they are doing when they dress up in a particular manner. i believe there has not been a single case of rape or any such thing inside any campus here. so where does the question of distracting guys come in. and if the guys are getting distracted by girls wearing jeans in class, its their problem. i work in a reputed company. i am free to wear anything and everything, my clothes dont matter as far as i give the results. And i have realised that no one gives a damn to what you wear. there is no point in fussing on what one should wear and one should not.
i feel our educational institutions should focus on other aspects for instance anna univ does not give internet connection to students in hostel – i have faced so many difficulties during my projects – i would have to wait till morining to go browse and resolve one small issue Mobile phones had made it easy for all of us to communicate with each other
The VC has no right to make statements like “How will peopel teach if some girl dresses up in Jeans” . it is his view.. he might not be able to teach when a girl is in jeans but this is not the norm
right on everyone
Clothing for both men and women offers legitimacy to social distinctions. For men, clothes were mainly indicative of social status. While for women, fashion is regulated not only along lines of social distinction but also along lines of sexuality.
Styles which expose too much of the feminine body are condemned for their enticement. Such fashions are considered inappropriate for a ‘virtuous’ woman. Whether it is men stare at a woman’s plunging neckline, or women snidely suggesting that the reason a colleague ropes in men are because of her tight skirt, any act of sexual harassment or violence is first attributed to the woman’s clothing, never to the man’s lack of conduct.
Immodest clothing of women is tempting men to commit crimes like rape, sexual harassment, murders etc. Teen girls should possess the wisdom that certain attires that they wear may not be acceptable to others. Some female workers in companies wear tight attires or tomboyish attires to which male workers are provoked. Therefore women should be careful while choosing their attires. Hence the implementation of dress code in companies, schools, colleges and in temples preserves tradition and culture. It also ensures the protection and respect for women in the Indian society.
yes being completely covered from head to toe will NOT prevent sexual harassment or assault but a man or a woman actually likely to be attracted to discovered one.
anna university said decent dress. But some of the colleges in chennai have uniform . this is the most frustrating thing for students studying in such colleges ,after 12 long years of uniform in college most frustrating. wont anna university take any action against these colleges ?
will these be realy brought to the notice of anna university, if so please do some thing for us please we beg u a lot …. after 12 long years of wearing uniform in school ,now too… uniform in college, please think of it 🙁