This Chinese University Is Telling Girl Students To Avoid Wearing Anything Too Revealing Because Obviously, Men Can’t Be Expected To Behave
Here’s the thing that most people fail to understand- women can’t be held responsible for harassment or assault. And nothing they do or don’t do will stop men. And while the world tries to tell us that our necklines and hemlines are the reason, we aren’t having any of it. It’s time that the shame, the responsibility and more is shifted off the shoulders of the women and placed where it belongs, on the men. Isn’t it simpler and more effective to educate the boys than to try and control every movement a girl makes? Yes, it is wayy more convenient to let these thing slide and let patriarchy continue unabated, but let’s not do that for a change.
Whether we want to accept it or not, everyone does this. From parents demanding their daughters not go out after sunset but letting the son stay out all night to teachers and colleges who ask the girl students to dress a certain way as to not catch the eye of men. It really pisses me off when colleges do that. I mean, what kind of message are they sending to young girls? You have to change and cover every inch of your body so that no man looks at you with a perverted gaze. And if something unfortunate does happen, it’s probably because you wore something that too skimpy and it grabbed his attention and hence, you’re asking for it. A man will obviously look if you are flaunting it in front of him. Because clearly, keeping in it his pants is not a man’s job at all.
Then why have colleges been doing this since the beginning of time? You would think being educators and all they would understand the importance of schooling the boys. But well, here we are. And this ridiculous norm of universities dictating what a woman should and shouldn’t wear is not a practice native to India.
Outrage In China As University Asks Women Not To Wear "Revealing" Clothes https://t.co/ItzGJE4Zlz pic.twitter.com/dgNWW8Dib3
— NDTV (@ndtv) September 2, 2020
Recently, a Chinese university has come under the scanner for telling women to refrain from wearing anything “overly revealing” on campus so that they don’t arouse “temptation”. Of course, the university faced volumes of backlash for this.
On August 1, Guangxi University in southwestern China published a 50-point safety guide for incoming first-year female students. This safety guide included a dress code that implied that women will be held responsible for any sexual assault or harassment that happens with them. This is appalling!
The guide said, “Don’t wear overly revealing tops or skirts. Don’t wear low-cut dresses or expose your waist or back, to avoid creating temptation.” Reuters even confirmed that this university had forbidden girl students to wear spaghetti-strap tops in the library. The university has also asked women to avoid wearing high-heels in certain circumstances.
This is ridiculous. Why can’t they wear what they want? It’s not their fault if the men don’t understand what is appropriate behaviour and what is not.
Also Read: This Hyderabad Girls College Wants Students To Wear Kurtis Of A Certain Length. The Students Are Protesting And We Are With Them
Chinese university slammed for telling female students to spurn 'overly revealing' dress https://t.co/LXxIHoWOar
— The Straits Times (@straits_times) September 2, 2020
Like most countries, this university is also taking the shelter of its “traditions.” Which is saying that our culture doesn’t allow it but let’s not say anything to our men. Basically women are, more often than not, held responsible for any misbehaviour they face at the hands of a man.
Although do you know what the silver lining in this situation is? This belief system is being challenged. When Guangxi University published that safety-guide and forced female students to follow the dress code, they faced an uproar. They were slammed for it. Slowly and steadily, people are starting to realize that judging a woman by the length of her skirt or blaming her outfit when she faces harassment is a ridiculous notion. And that my friends, is progress.
The hashtag #GuangxiUniversityfemalestudentssecurityguide has gone viral on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform. People are commenting and talking about how this does not protect women but propel the gender stereotype that says that women are harassed because of the way they dress.
Maybe the world would progress much further if people stopped blaming the girls for everything and just schooled the men.
https://thehauterfly.com/lifestyle/in-kerala-a-college-magazine-is-getting-flak-for-talking-about-menstruation-and-rape-culture-apparently-its-taboo-oh-ffs/
