Hyderabad: Ripped Jeans paves the way for societal breakdown and is a result of the “bad example” parents set for children, which also leads to substance abuse, chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat said at a workshop on substance abuse on Tuesday.
The comment has sparked outrage and women have taken to social media to assert that nobody is entitled to judge anyone on the basis of their clothes.
Speaking at an event on Tuesday, Rawat said that due to a lack of values, youngsters today are following strange fashion trends and consider themselves to be big shots after wearing jeans that are ripped at the knees.
He said, “Kyanchi se sanskaar (culture by scissors) — showing bare knees, wearing ripped denim and looking like rich kids — these are the values being given now. Where is this coming from, if not at home? What is the fault of teachers or schools? Where am I taking my son, showing his knees and in tattered jeans? Girls are no less, showing their knees. Is this good? All of this, in a mad race of westernization. While the western world follows us, doing yoga … covering their body properly. And we run towards nudity.”
Rawat went on to describe the attire of a woman who sat next to him on a flight. He said the woman was wearing boots, jeans ripped at the knees and several bangles in her hands. “Two children were traveling with her. She runs an NGO, goes out in society and has two children but she wears jeans ripped at the knees. What values will she impart?” he stated.
Responding to Rawat’s problematic statement, women started posting their pictures on social media wearing a pair of ripped jeans. Actor Gul Panag registered her protest against the statement by sharing a picture of herself along with the hashtag #rippedjeans.
The problematic statements did make people angry, but why is this not shocking anymore? The scary thing here is, absurd statements like these are everywhere and women listen to them every day, many opined.
Siasat.com spoke to a few women–mothers and students–who outrightly rejected Uttarakhand chief minister’s views and supported choice.
Vijaya, a home-maker and a mother of two when asked about her opinion on this said that she personally is not a fan of ripped jeans and will not wear it herself but would not judge someone who wears them as it’s their choice.
21-yr-old Sanjana, a masters student, said, ” My choice or anyone’s choice of clothing for that matter does not reflect how ‘sanskaari’ we are. I could wear ripped jeans and still hold on to my values. It’s sad that even today our value system is questioned every day based on what we wear.”
We spoke to 18-yr-old Avni from Mumbai, who said: “I think we have been conditioned to judge people for their choices constantly. Especially women have to fight character assassination every day, right from home. We constantly have family members moral policing us, saying “acche ghar ki ladkiyaan aise kapde nahi pehanti” (girls from good families don’t wear such clothes.). If we want to bring a change in society, we should start at home. The fact that people in power pass such comments, gives more confidence to people to shame others.”
Social media was taken by a storm and women from all over the country flaunted their ripped jeans,
Actress Gul Panag took to Twitter and shared a picture of her in a pair of ripped jeans.
Women from opposition parties also participated in the Twitter trend #rippedjeans. The spokesperson of Samajwadi Party Juhie Singh shared a picture of herself wearing a salwar suit in support of ripped jeans and said that nobody gets to judge others based on clothing, no matter whether they wear jeans or not.
Aiyshwarya Mahadev, the Congress party’s media panelist, shared an image where she and a friend can be seen wearing ripped jeans. The politician said that if clothing determined culture and character then god men would not have been accused of heinous crimes.
Lok Sabha Member of Parliament, Mahua Moitra who is known for her fierceness and asking questions unabashedly took a sarcastic jibe at the CM,