Sari or the 5-6 metre length single piece of cloth is considered as the standard wear of women in India. Why our women are wearing this lengthy, cumbersome cloth even us our men shifted to the stitched pants and shirts? It is because the society tells them it is their attire. I will see this as a kind of social control. In many parts of India this attire is must for a married women and if she tries any thing new, it is looked down upon.
One fact I am not able to apprehend is about on what basis our people is advocating sari? Surely it is not based on comfort. For physical work it is the most inconvienient wear. One may tell that it is the most suiting for a lady, she looks good in it etc. Its all about the look not the convenience. They may tell it is the most decent. But in my opinion sari is the most sexiest wear. It is the most exposing. The ground of advocating it on the basis of 'looking good' presents an chauvinist viewpoint.
There are schools which prescribes sari as mandatory wear for lady teachers. Why the same school allows the male teachers to come in pants and not make doti mandatory? The teachers standing before the adolescent students should always be conscious when she is wearing a sari which not a full covering attire. They can better opt for other garments and be confident while standing in front of the children.
A similar case can be shown in 'parda'. The attire has in origin in Arab countries where the climatic conditions forces them to wear a full covering dress. We can see the men in these countries also in full covered attire. But they adopted the same dress for women in other countries where as the men cleverly shun it in other regions. Why women is not given freedom to select an attire suiting the climatic conditions?
Selecting a dress for their women by the society presents nothing but the control the society exercises over them. I am not finding any other logical basis for this imposition. They cry for women empowerment and freedom should start from the basic freedom of the personal choices to select the appropriate and convenient clothing.
