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Can some clothes lead to poor academic grades or, worse, violence against women? Is it about dress codes for women or conduct codes for men? The debate rages...

Signature campaign against Anna University's dress code.

Chennai's Anna University, in September, imposed a dress code for women students — "no jeans, no tight outfits, no sleeveless or revealing clothes". The Vice-Chancellor defended the decision, saying certain outfits detract from academic pursuits.

Nandini — Voice for the Deprived, a Chennai-based NGO, recently brought together students and heads of institutions to share their views on the issue.

"Dress codes are an insult to intelligence and an indirect exercise in perversion," says an agitated Meera Ganapathy from Chennai's Stella Maris College. Her college-mate Rashmi Goutham says it's yet another attempt to "control" women.

Deepti from Women's Christian College, on the other hand, feels a dress code is acceptable so long as it does not hinder comfort levels. Bringing in the issue of culture, A.R. Vijayalakshmi of Lady Doak College, Madurai, says that culture manifests itself in the way women conduct themselves, so a dress code must be imposed for women students.

Countering this, Meera says, "The culture police have come up with a million excuses to enforce their warped ideas on us. It is part of our culture to be decently dressed, they say. What is decency? Who defines what is decent and what is not?"

Adds Deepti, "You can wear a saree or any Indian attire for that matter and still look indecent and wear a pair of jeans and T-shirt and still look decent. It is all in the mind."

Preventing male gaze

The Vice-Chancellor of Anna University had said that the dress code would help prevent harassment of women students. Rashmi disagrees. The belief that women will unwittingly invite rape and sexual violence if they do not conform to "acceptable" dress norms persists despite incontrovertible data to the contrary, she says. "Dress code for women students could never be an effective solution for the gender-based ills in society."

Deepti seconds this view: "Our roadside Romeos spare none." That the traditional Indian attire will bring down the crime rate is either amazingly short-sighted or ridiculously optimistic, she says.

Rashmi concedes that the student community does have its share of mistakes. But that is no reason to punish the whole lot. The need of the hour is "dress sense and not a dress code," she says.

Deepti suggests reasonable regulations for all students in arts and science colleges, and slightly relaxed rules for those in colleges that are not co-educational.

What teachers think

Dr Nirmala Prasad, Principal of M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women in Chennai, says students should acknowledge educational institutions as `temples of learning' and dress appropriately.

"Freedom always comes with responsibility. When you are given the freedom not to wear a uniform, you are given the freedom to wear any dress which is decent enough for an educational institution."

Prof Eugene Pinto, Principal of Queen Mary's College, points out that dress codes always existed and students were required to sign an undertaking of adherence during admission. However, she clarifies that dress code was not an issue at all in her college, as most students belong to the lower-income group.

The Principal of Meenakshi College for Women, Prof K.S. Lakshmi, says that in all these years, her college had pulled up only one student for inappropriate clothes.

Instead of generalising, Dr Nirmala says, it is best to advise those who don't have the right dress sense. And all the educators agree that a dress code is not the solution to problems of sexual harassment or eve teasing.

A political issue

Prof Susheela Kaushik, Member, Standing Committee on Women's Studies, University Grants Commission, New Delhi, says that the issue of dress code is more political than cultural, in terms of patriarchal relations or power. "Who's imposing these restrictions? Not the women... Women are the agents of a political point of view that believes that if the Indian women change, then the society will get decentralised."

She points out that diversity is the mark of Indian culture and not uniformity. "If one of those diversities is jeans and T-shirt, let's take it. India's history has been one of absorbing foreign elements like a sponge. Not throwing out. That's how Indian history has evolved. Then why do we want to throw one part of it, saying it is western?"

However, she stresses the need for a participatory approach, wherein students are also involved in the decision-making if at all colleges want to enforce a dress code.

But if the dress code is perceived as a solution to eve teasing or sexual harassment, she says it is not wise to "punish women for men's fault."

Whichever side of the issue these women stand on, they underline the need for a change in the way men look at women. The best way to achieve that, says Susheela, is to sensitise male students in the 17-22 age-group on women's rights and foster a healthy attitude towards women. As Meera says, "It is not the clothing that needs change, but the sight that perceives the clothing. There is a need to change his thoughts... "

Picture by N. Sridharan

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