Hi All,
Before we begin, I would like to state that the opinions expressed here are my own it is for you to decide what you think!
As you all know, India has a major issue with sex crimes at the moment, it is common knowledge and something that needs to be tackled NOW. Although the latest attempts to change this rising hideous culture is, in my opinion ridiculous and a complete waste of resources. The latest way India is going to try to tackle sex crimes is to ban lingerie wearing manequins from store windows. Now, although it sounds strange, I can understand the thinking behind it – the more sexualisation of fashion – the more people will think about committing disgusting acts. From experience though, societies know that blaming fashion, art, films and music as the route causes for crimes is fundamentally flawed and that there is, as far as I am aware, little to no evidence that manequins/lingerie are the causes or triggers for illegal activities.
The reasons for the move towards a ban
Over the past few days representatives from the city of Mumbai’s local authority have cast their votes in the hope that by completely removing lingerie and mannequins from store fronts they will see a reduce in rapes and sexual assaults. Will it work, I doubt it and think the money could be spent protecting women and educating societies towards the risks. A quote from the Telegraph, made by one of the council representatives said that mannequins wearing lacy lingerie promoted “pollution of the mind”. Now, I am all for promoting women’s bodies in a realistic way, using different sized mannequins, being tasteful in the way we display fashion and making sure that mannequins are inclusive of all. This I will raise my hands too, but banning mannequins for fear that they directly affect the mind is firstly not proven and secondly sends the message that women’s bodies should not be viewed.
In a religious sense, I completely understand the need to be respectful and tasteful, if the removal of mannequins and two piece sets was for a religious reason I would be the first to understand, but to stop rape; well wouldn’t getting the predators off the streets be the best way? When there is art all over the globe that shows women wearing nothing at all, celebrated in galleries, religious buildings and in the streets, how does banning mannequins solve the problem? surely you would then need to remove all sculptures to enforce the total removal of all mind altering threats.
At the end of the day, the removal of mannequins wearing lingerie, swimwear or scantly clothing is not tackling the heart of the problem and when there are so many other forms of “mannequins” out there, from sculptures to the beautiful women in Bollywood films, I worry that the actual reason for the ban will get lost in a rule that will make no difference at all.
What are your thoughts? Do you think this will work or do you believe the heart of the issue hasn’t been dealt with?
