A professor at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru ridiculed a girl for turning up in shorts. Students were outraged and protested. Facebook and Instagram have prompted a major outcry in protests against attire rules.
We spoke to students, scholars and psychologists in the city on why a dress code for college students and worse still, why are young girls always ridiculed for not following a dress code.
“A student’s job is to study. But forcing a dress code on them is not proper. In ISB we wear what we want to. Girls come in shorts and spaghettis, but no one bothers. I guess it’s about the environment,” says Sumana Sachidananda from ISB.
Agreeing with Sumana is Ayush Mallik, a student from Nalsar who says, “Dress code in educational institutions, in a society that boasts of personal liberty, is a questionable point. It is difficult to gauge any rational nexus between the dress you wear and your intellectual proficiency.
While arguments of seriousness that is required for the study of a discipline are often flung across in defence of a dress code, it very often becomes a tool of ‘slut-shaming’ people who do not conform to the accepted dressing norms of society.” But there are others who ask, why not tell boys to quit being perverts?
Bhargav Nimmagadda, doctoral scholar, Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, says, “Instead of educating boys about gender sensitivity, it is ridiculous to suggest or impose a dress code for girls in educational institutions. Gender sensitisation should be part of school curriculum. It is unfair to restrict women from wearing dresses of their choice.”
Psychologists like Radhika Acharya, meanwhile, reason that certain dresses do distract boys. She says, “Students going to the educational institutes should be formally dressed, and not in shorts. You should be more focused on your curriculum rather than seeking attention from boys. Girls seem to be inspired by Deepika Padukone’s ‘My Choice’, but it can’t be only my choice, it also has to be others’ choices. If it’s your choice to wear shorts, others also have the choice to comment. So, how are you going to stop them?”
Countering that, counselling psychologist Diana Monteiro says, “Absolutely not. Women's clothing is never a reason for rape or eve-teasing. What we need to talk about is how attitudes develop and how we inculcate gender inequality as soon as we have a child, which percolates through and becomes a problematic behaviour in adolescence and adulthood. Yes, we have to change attitudes towards women and towards men. Women and men promote this notion that clothing is distracting or that women/men should behave in particular ways that are appropriate.”
The statement
Mamidipudi Mukunda, a student of Bengaluru Law College posted on his FB page: “We issue this statement strongly condemning the extremely shameful incident in which a professor has made inappropriate remarks to a III year student in our presence. We were all stunned into silence on hearing a distinguished member of the faculty make such a crude comment.
The student was appalled at this reasoning and respectfully objected to the same. The professor then proceeded to cast aspersions on the character of the student. He denounced her credibility entirely and went on to state, ‘You can come to class without a dress also. That is how your character is, I’m going to ignore you.’”
