“Choice” When you look at it, it appears like a seemingly common word. However, it is only so on the face of it; it has evolved to become a highly political and complex word in recent times. The right to choose is an essential part of every human’s life, yet we see women being raped, ridiculed and even killed for practicing this basic right, which is fundamental to life.
Let us look at the Karnataka case, wherein girls were not allowed to wear a hijab in their educational institutions. Thousands of women came out on the streets and protested for their right to practice religion. A case, which moves along similar lines, and yet is exceedingly different from the Karnataka case is that of Iran, where we see Mahsa Amini being killed for wearing a hijab in an “improper” way. This sparked nationwide protests in which women removed their hijabs and even set fire on them. Through this piece, I do not intend to take any sides on the ‘rightness’ of either of the acts, but to portray the sheer horror and sorrow which, even after decades of protests and agitation, we still live in a world where women do not have the autonomy to choose what they wish to wear, whether the right to take such decisions lies with the government or not, and even where the non-obedience of these patriarchal rules will get you raped or as is seen in some extreme cases, killed.
Incidents like these may sometimes seem nonsensical to me, but then it urges me to look at the situations within my household. I come from a family where everyone is educated and working; they go out and see the world every day, yet they somehow fail to see the needs of a woman’s right to choose her clothing. Even today I can’t wear shorts at home because “bhaiya aur papa dekhenge to kaisa lagega“. Even today, I have to make sure that my skirts are at a certain length, my neckline doesn’t show off too much, my armholes are not too big, and my dresses are not too short. I wish to live in a world where I wouldn’t have to worry about such questions.
These rules and standards within our society often tend to be confusing and absurd at times. In Thokalapalli, a village in Andhra Pradesh, women were ordered not to wear nighties in public during the day because it was making the men of the village uncomfortable. There are numerous other cases like, bras was made mandatory in a school in Montreal and in Ontario, school-going girls were suspended because their bra straps were visible.
It is not ironic at all that women in Iran are fighting for their right to not wear the hijab, whereas in India women are fighting for their right to wear the hijab because, in both the cases, women are fighting for the right to choose. Freedom means different things to different people. The idea is not to define freedom for anyone, but rather to allow them to discover their own and then give them the autonomy to exercise that freedom. Associating, the idea of wearing a hijab with being brainwashed or not being “modern” is easy but completely wrong. Our fight ends when we start fighting over the wrong things. Both wearing a hijab and not wearing one are equally important and equally valid. The issue of wearing a hijab is a lot more complicated, and we aren’t here to talk about that. We are here to talk about how wearing a hijab or not should be a completely unbiased autonomous choice for women.
We cannot create barriers for someone to gain basic education or kill someone just because they don’t fit into your idea of patriarchal norms. The real freedom of choice is when a woman can wear what she wants, where she wants, and whenever she wants without being judged, taunted, or ridiculed for it. We have a long way to go and a lot more battles to fight until we get this autonomous choice.