Noted playback singer KJ Yesudas recently remarked that girls wearing jeans cause trouble to others. In other words the singer associates women’s dress with the rising crimes against them which is a tenuous argument and an attempt to reinforce the gender biases of patriarchy. Women’s organisations across this country are up in arms against the singer’s illogical comment. This is a globalised world and fashions too have evolved and transcended global boundaries. Jeans used to be the trademark dress of Americans. Today it is a universally accepted mode of dressing by both sexes because of the comfort it affords. In a country rife with prejudices it is only to be expected that some religious groups would defend singer K J Yesudas. Several Muslim organisations from Kerala feel girls should be dissuaded from wearing not just jeans but any western apparel because they are “indecent.”
One of the indicators of women’s empowerment is their ability to exercise their options in both the public and private spheres. Women have been the targets of religious bigotry. Women are told what is good and not good for them. But rape and sexual assaults are not about the dress a woman wears. Indian society has always been quick to lay the blame for rape and other crimes against women on women themselves and have absolved men, when in fact it is the male gaze and psyche which is to be addressed. That rape is not about sex but the assertion of male power is an argument that is advanced by feminist scholars after rigorous research. This is supported by women’s organisations fighting for gender equity and equality but they have failed to make a dent in those who continue to be guided by medieval mindsets. Statements of the kind made by Yesudas set back the women’s movement by several decades. For women in India it has been a case of one step forward, five steps backwards. However, democracy allows for checks and balances as there will always be counterpoints to such anachronistic statements. The fight for women’s social, economic and political empowerment has to carry on regardless and women too have to learn to claim their rights even if the process is slow and painful.