Slut Walk

Heard this term from many parts of the world and lately in India too. Won’t discuss the pros and cons of conducting this walk in other parts of the world but in India it’s very irrelevant. Just because some policeman in an European country called women sluts when they dressed provocatively and invited troubles, why should we burn our candles and start protesting. It must be in some context and one should not isolate things and judge. Even if protests make things right in those countries, it does not hold true for India.

By conducting a slut walk or as it is called ‘besharmi morcha’ in India, we are giving undue importance to that unknown policeman and his comments. He is no Mahatama Gandhi or even a Steve Jobs. Why should anyone listen to him and then react to his inconsequential statement. He has made it; you call him insane in your thoughts and move on.

We all dress the way we want to. We conform to certain needs, decorum and standards and decide what to wear. In Mumbai it would be different from what any girl would wear in Delhi or Raipur or Kochi or Imphal or Jodhpur. It will be different for religions, age, marital status and many other norms. Within those norms is the freedom to wear things of our choice. We should all respect that and wear as per the occasion. Once we decide what to wear, then we shouldn’t be scared of reactions. When I say scare, it means reactions from our side too. We need not be defensive or offensive about it. If we can carry ourselves with what we are wearing, I mean the confidence, then why not. It is here that most of the girls/women go wrong and they blame everyone else for it. Men will remain men whatever you wear. Even if you are covered from head to toe, they can go wrong. So, the reaction from the male community is not important, you are the key to the issue. Wear the dress you can carry yourself in, that is the core issue. And as said before, it will differ for each context. If you are not dressed to the sensibilities of the occasion then why bother reacting to that policeman’s reaction?

Some people have a habit of making a living by keeping this business of protests alive. We also get ‘rent a protestor’ in some prominent names in every city. We shouldn’t be falling trap to those invitations and decide to choose the issue and forum to raise our voice. If we start protesting for non issues then we will have no takers for our genuine calls! Look at history. Mahatama Gandhi always had a cause to protest and it touched every commoner of this country when there were no mobiles, Facebook, Twitter or Email! Back then; his ways of protests were well defined. He used to recall and end protests if people went wrong in method of protesting also, the main being the non-violent criteria. We need to learn a lot from him by reading on him. And what did he wear- just a dhoti! But he knew why he was wearing that and was extremely confident in carrying himself off in that. I take my inspiration from him and look in awe with the dressing sense of Indira Gandhi or now Priyanka Gandhi or Chanda Kochar who dress up in a certain manner for the occasion and not for comment makers.

Anubhuti Matta