Bras and panties are daily essentials in a woman’s wardrobe, but they apparently annoy several people. Take for instance the incident that happened in Delhi when students from theatre group, Lakshya, who were part of the Mahavidyalaya Theatre Festival of Sahitya Kala Academy, were asked not to use the words “bras” or “panties” in their play. If they did so, they were told, that they would lose marks or even get disqualified. And so women protested, hung bras on the walls of the campus. Not just them, women across the country are enraged. How and why did these daily essentials become unmentionables?
A recent video, ‘Let her be’ that went viral echoes the same sentiment. Women, their bodies and their undergarments are definitely not something that need to be hidden.
Students, as part of the protest, hung bras on the walls of the campus. (Photo: Pinjra Tod/Facebook)
The Delhi student group’s faculty member, Monami Basu, wrote on Facebook, “After the play ended, we were informed that the play was disqualified for using ‘inappropriate language’. Not cuss words, but because one scene in the play had dialogues with the words ‘bra’ and ‘panty’... so traumatised were the organisers by the words that they choked on them and could not bring themselves to spell out those ‘appalling’ and ‘disgusting’ words while telling us the reason for disqualification.”
It's hypocritical to tell women not to use such words: Jwala Gutta
“It’s hypocritical to tell women not to use such words,” affirms Badminton champ Jwala Gutta, especially when it is something that they wear every day. When boxers, an undergarment worn by men, can be discussed freely, what’s the problem with bras and panties, she questions. “I don’t think twice before using words like bras and panties even when I’m talking with my male friends. While I was growing up, my coaches were mostly men and I even told them whenever I had my period,” she adds.
Sometime back, journalist Niveditha Niranjan’s FB post titled ‘Yes, I wear a bra and it shows’ went viral. She says that even after three years of posting that, we’re still stuck on the same issue: “I don’t understand why people are ashamed of words related to daily wear, when they are okay with cuss words. When I heard that the words were ‘inappropriate’, I was appalled. Which dictionary do they use?”
Echoing her thoughts is Delhi’s famous stand-up comedian, actress Mallika Dua, who doesn’t mince words. “Words like bra and panty ‘offend’ the Sahitya Kala academy, but greater problems don’t. When I was studying in Delhi University for a year, the play Holi, which was filled with cuss words because the story demanded, won in every festival. Let’s not pretend we are a holier-than-thou society that’s all rainbows and daisies,” says Dua.
There is also the issue of the ‘strap-hiding’ brigade. How many times has a friend rushed to surreptitiously inform you that your bra strap is visible? Celebrity stylist Indrakshi Ria Pattanaik says she doesn’t really care about it now. “While I was growing up, I always found it hypocritical when I was asked to hide my bra strap. When someone wears a bikini on a beach, that’s okay. But when someone’s bra strap shows, there is a problem. The problem is actually the mindset and parenting. When someone now tells me my bra strap is showing, I tell them, ‘Thank you, I’m proud of it’.”
— With inputs from Shweta Watson
