As a girl, I have seen and faced many things in life. I always hear people say that the way someone dresses can influence how others behave towards them. Often said that, some clothes people wear is to seduce the other person. I disagree with this kind of mindset. A piece of cloth can never cause people to have bad intentions. I believe it's the mindset to blame not the other person or their clothes. I do believe in dress codes, we should present ourselves differently at different places. You can't go to the school with the dress which you went with to the disco party. It means we should keep differences between personal and professional life. I believe harmful intentions come from a person’s mindset when they think they can get away after harassing because they can simply blame the the victim and that is the most easiest thing.
For an example, if I look at someone and have inappropriate thoughts, that is my responsibility. It has no correlation with the other person because I do everything by myself, by my own choices and nothing can influence me unless I want to be influenced or think that I'm being influenced. No one should be blamed for wearing something attractive or different. Everyone has different kind of thoughts for clothes and it exist in our own minds. Clothing does not control our actions; we do. If someone can not control their eyes then it's on them not on the other people. We have freedom to do what we like not only that we have free will, that doesn't mean we should misuse it. Like I can't imagine a teacher teaching at a school in a bikini, that would be hilarious. So, there should be dress codes for places and it should vary. We should be understanding to tackle with the situation and dress according to it.
Anyway, it becomes even clearer when we think about children. Or the boy child, what can be attractive about them? Even though they are from a different gender. The abuser is not gay obviously, he just wants to pursue for his lust at any cost, that's why he wouldn't mind if it's a guy or a girl, or a kid. We often justify by saying maybe that person is crazy, out of their mind, pedophile but that's not always the reason. These people know kids won't say anything or can't protest that is why they target children the most, because they can get away easily. A child victim and an adult victim there's no difference other than the age. We would prioritise more if it's a child but not the same for an adult, why? I feel the victim can be anyone the age or gender does not matter. They are all victims of harassment, abuse, and violence. They all deserve the same treatment from us. Anyway, clothing was never a problem, it always has been used as an excuse.
The responsibility belongs entirely to the person who chooses to do bad things. Moreover, if someone’s favourite colour is blue and mine is black, I would not attack them because their choice is different than mine, right? Also, If someone loves vegetable rice and I like pizza, that difference does not give me a reason to attack them. So why should clothing be treated differently?
We are not clones, we are supposed to be different and have different choices. But no one has the right to abuse just because someone feels bothered by it. We need acknowledge the basic thing that, we should prevent someone else’s bad behaviour, instead of asking someone to not wear something attractive. We should be teaching children's from young age that they should always respect other people and learn to control their actions.
This is my entry to a contest by indiaunited, I would love to invite you to participate!
The picture is created with chatgpt.
Thanks for reading 🌷
