Why do urban young women dress the way they do? Is it only their business?
The inspiration for young women is largely the fashion industry, one does see models on the ramps and actresses at social dos dressed in what may be considered outrageous garments. For impressionable teenagers and young women, clothing is a critical element of self-expression and independence - they do not see anything wrong in ‘wearing what they want’. This is despite the all prevalent male gaze, which research and personal experience shows is quite different form the female gaze. Advertising has numerous examples of the male gaze: the elegant outline of a car’s form is compared to the curves of a woman. (I have elaborated the point here .) The ‘Me-too’ movement threw up narratives of women being at the receiving end of inappropriate behaviour. The oft-cited excuses have been the ‘provocative’ garb of women. In contrast to the ‘body objectivising’ that happens when a man is in the picture, is the sheer body positivity that young women feel, which springs from within. There...