Skirt the Issue!!! This Saturday, Jan 12th, 2013 on Brigade Road - 3 pm.
Men - do you have the courage to wear skirts and join us in our fight for the freedom to walk down a road without fear?
A few friends and I are actively pushing for men to wear skirts and walk with us ! I am sure everyone is seeing and hearing what our country has become habituated to - that the women ask for it, that our clothes determine whether we will be molested or not, that an exposed body is somehow an invitation to touch, to grope, to squeeze, to brush, to stare....we want to turn this whole thing on its head to show just how ridiculous it is. From politicians to friends to parents and teachers - we will have heard the ' She was dressed like a slut, what was she thinking?', ' Her blouse was so deep, no wonder he was staring at her!' to the lecherous man on the street, 'Oy, Super maal!' whether one is wearing a salwar, a saree or jeans....enough times for it to sound normal.
Just because it common, it is not normal.Just because we hear it often, it is not okay.
So, we ask men to wear skirts and walk down Brigade Road to show that what one wears has nothing to do with whether one is going to be sexually harassed. Men in our country have worn lungis for ages,legs and thighs exposed.. and have rarely been molested. (I say rarely because I did not want to say never, for I do not know if a man has been molested in a lungi or not) . The concept of the walk is also to creatively shatter norms of patriarchy and masculinity, the gendering of our behaviour, our clothes - why are men so scared to wear skirts?
So stop skirting the issue - come wear skirts, walk with us, join us in our fight.
It's your fight too.
Saturday, Jan 12th, 2013
3 pm at Mota Royal Arcade, Brigade Road.
After the walk down Brigade Road and MG Road, we gather at Cubbon park to talk,discuss, inform and hopefully, force people to think...before thinking.
Men - do you have the courage to wear skirts and join us in our fight for the freedom to walk down a road without fear?
A few friends and I are actively pushing for men to wear skirts and walk with us ! I am sure everyone is seeing and hearing what our country has become habituated to - that the women ask for it, that our clothes determine whether we will be molested or not, that an exposed body is somehow an invitation to touch, to grope, to squeeze, to brush, to stare....we want to turn this whole thing on its head to show just how ridiculous it is. From politicians to friends to parents and teachers - we will have heard the ' She was dressed like a slut, what was she thinking?', ' Her blouse was so deep, no wonder he was staring at her!' to the lecherous man on the street, 'Oy, Super maal!' whether one is wearing a salwar, a saree or jeans....enough times for it to sound normal.
Just because it common, it is not normal.Just because we hear it often, it is not okay.
So, we ask men to wear skirts and walk down Brigade Road to show that what one wears has nothing to do with whether one is going to be sexually harassed. Men in our country have worn lungis for ages,legs and thighs exposed.. and have rarely been molested. (I say rarely because I did not want to say never, for I do not know if a man has been molested in a lungi or not) . The concept of the walk is also to creatively shatter norms of patriarchy and masculinity, the gendering of our behaviour, our clothes - why are men so scared to wear skirts?
So stop skirting the issue - come wear skirts, walk with us, join us in our fight.
It's your fight too.
Saturday, Jan 12th, 2013
3 pm at Mota Royal Arcade, Brigade Road.
After the walk down Brigade Road and MG Road, we gather at Cubbon park to talk,discuss, inform and hopefully, force people to think...before thinking.
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