“If mothers wear jeans and shirts and dress like men, they will beget children who are transgenders.” – Kumar, a Botany professor commented during one of his awareness class. We do talk about how indecent dressing prevail among young ‘ladies’ these days, how their lipstick or a slight touch of powder is an indication to men to ‘touch and feel’, how their care-free attitude is a tag that welcomes men to get close. It’s a matter of worry when it’s our own community of “WOMEN’ who act as hypocrites.

We talk about the ‘indecent’ way of dressing that is adopted by the youngsters these days. “What should be covered must be covered. Women should not trouble others by wearing jeans” K.J. Yesudas, a famous musician quoted. His statement led to a media outrage and was proved ironical by users who uploaded photos of his own daughter-in-law in one of those. A thought that has always taunted me is : “What is the indecency in clothing they’re pointing at? How are shorts or short dresses ( revealing a bit of leg or thighs), crop-tops (revealing a part of tummy) and sleeveless (revealing of arms) more provoking than the way the most traditional clothing “Saris” are draped these days ( which definitely don’t need any description )? Hypocrisy arises when it’s the women themselves who comments so. ” Everyone tells about how “she” got raped because of the way she dressed, but what was the so-called indecent dressing seen in a minor that lead her to go through such a pain? Was it her cute ‘little’ frock or her ‘smart‘ uniform that provoked them to gift her such torture or a greater gift- death? Was it her twinkling-deer-like eyes or her innocent-endearing smile that was alluring?

When Moshe Dayan quoted that “Freedom is the Oxygen of the Soul “, he never mentioned about it being restricted or available to only the community of men in the society. Well, women in clubs at midnight or anywhere outside the house are tagged as ‘care-free’ but that doesn’t give men the right to re-tag them as ‘lustful’. Even her mind would have coveted to lie under the blanket of stars, to alter the tenebrosity with a campfire in the middle of nowhere, to let herself free and dance to the loud music in night clubs, go for a long ride just to see the sunrise, to play her favourite sport under the moonlight, to enjoy the twilight not from the window in her room but at a garden or a waterfront. Why put her under chains just because she was born a female? Safety of women is a great concern and is indubitable. But, is refraining her the only way to prevent perils? Safety is only possible if men leave their so-called ‘I’m a guy, hence I can do whatever I want’ attitude and take up this as a responsibility and contribute to a world where every girl could live a liberal life like them. Create many more emancipated women than those refrained! To begin with, open your minds and give the ladies/girls in your house a safe, fear-free environment.

“Men and Women live in different worlds. At core, men are afraid women will laugh at them, while at core, women are afraid men will kill them.” -Gavin De Becker. The only way to pace towards gender equality is by taking up this as a human’s responsibility than that of a female’s sole responsibility. For that, instead of just sitting and gossiping about either of the community or questioning the victims who faced unfathomable pain; gift them, the women/girls, a world in which they can live freely with no fear of being questioned, living their fantasies to the fullest without being harmed.

Alas! We live in a world where an animal has more freedom than a woman and endangering an animal engenders more controversy. In fact, Freda Adler rightly quoted that “RAPE is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused”.