Short and Long of Dress Codes

There is a bar at the corner of the street near my workplace. This bar recently threw itself open for 'quick lunches'. So in I sauntered, there were a few guys sitting on bar stools. The place itself had a funky decor with twirly chairs and swirly colors. I took one look at the waitresses and it took me a while to come to my senses. I guess they believed in parsimony in dressing. Add this to the fact that they were attractive women. And those long black boots - How comfortable would it be to wear those in Summer? Guessing that this was how bars had uniforms for their female employees, I left. And yes, the lunch was quick which was besides the point.

My head seemed to scream "Discrimination" through every nerve cell .I am not interested in the argument, "Well they wear it what is your problem?".The point here is I percieve this as using a woman waitress as a sex object to pander to the male psyche. The issue is that employers can get away with this easily as long as the employee does not object. The first time I faced this issue of discrimination was in high school when I cut my hair very short. There was a rule in our school that the girls had to wear ribbons and hence had to wear long hair and fold it up in plaits and the boys were not allowed to grow their hair. And I had to rebel and rebel I did. Even today time and again Anna University or Some medical college or Fake Kurta Clad Intellectuals stirs up this women-dress/culture issue.

Upon searching for the legality behind these enforced stereotypes and discriminations I was surprised at what I found.And What courts decided as late as 2005. The ridiculousness of these arguments literally makes one's blood boil. So just because someone does something off work and is used to it they can be made to do the same at the workplace.This is like saying, All women employees should make coffee since they anyway make coffee at home (ok let's make it Rasam, I don't make the coffee at home)

I am surprised that this News from Australia did not catch a lot of attention. This is relatively older and happened in 2005. From a legal framework as to what constitutes discrimination and what does not here is another article. In another case, a woman employee was forced to wear makeup.And they could do nothing about it. I am completely appalled at reading this. I know that the entertainment industry relies on this given the penchant of nightclubs and places like hooters catering typically to their male clientele.
This is from the same societies who classify porn and prostitution as illegal and make criminals out of people. So these kind of dress codes, night clubs which sell and peddle soft titillation is completely legal while prostitution is not. Who draws these lines?

Be it in attitudes to cheerleading or television anchoring or shows like Beauty and the Geek it does show that women are still far away from true sexual equality.And that is why some of us still go around calling ourselves feminists.

A Worker Reads History

I don't particularly feel like writing or blogging, so here is a digg from the past. In 2002, I went on a historical tour of some of the remote Southern temples. That was a time when I was quite high on a diet of indology, indic research institutions and indigenous scholars and save-the-palm-leaf-manuscript type of thing. Among these temples wase Dharasuram a small tranquil spot near Kumbakonam. Like all other places the board proudly proclaimed that Rajaraja II built this temple. On one hand I was awestruck by the artistry and the architectural marvel, on the other I could not but wonder about the dynamics of temple construction. I do understand that it provided some kind of livelihood.

But Who were the thousands of workers who were commissioned for this? How did they agree to it? Were they compensated enough? Were they slaves and refugees of war who did not have an option but to pander to the ego of a king? A million questions raged in my mind as scenes from The Ten Commandments and Egypts Pharoahs played over and over in the background. I did try to dig up some references but did not get enough answers and then abandoned the cause. And then I found this poem of Bertold Brecht and it reminded me again of those questions on those marvels of timeless art crafted by nameless faceless workers. Yes, the anarchist feels very red today!!

A Worker Reads History

Who built the seven gates of Thebes?
The books are filled with names of kings.
Was it the kings who hauled the craggy blocks of stone?
And Babylon, so many times destroyed.
Who built the city up each time? In which of Lima's houses,
That city glittering with gold, lived those who built it?
In the evening when the Chinese wall was finished
Where did the masons go? Imperial Rome
Is full of arcs of triumph. Who reared them up? Over whom
Did the Caesars triumph? Byzantium lives in song.
Were all her dwellings palaces? And even in Atlantis of the legend
The night the seas rushed in,
The drowning men still bellowed for their slaves.
Young Alexander conquered India.
He alone?
Caesar beat the Gauls.
Was there not even a cook in his army?
Phillip of Spain wept as his fleet
was sunk and destroyed. Were there no other tears?
Frederick the Greek triumphed in the Seven Years War.
Who triumphed with him?
Each page a victory
At whose expense the victory ball?
Every ten years a great man,
Who paid the piper?
So many particulars.
So many questions.

--Bertold Brecht.

Facists R us

So now environmentalists,war protesters, gay rights activists, animal rights advocates, anti-abortonists (well that one came as a pleasant surprise) are all Single Issue Extremists.Hail the infinite wisdom of Alabama's Department of Homeland Security.

The term itself is interesting - single-issue terrorism.The sheer direction and dimension this line of thought takes is unbelievable.For every issue in the world, ranging from Nishadhae in Begada to the war in Iraq there are passionate people on every side. But the Governmental approach and attitude to this issue is alarming. I understand that antiabortionists have in the past been associated with violence but look at the other groups.They all have been more victims of violence and persecution. Antiabortionists fight against the rights of people while the others fight for their rights.I am not sure how close I am ideologically to classifying myself as an anarchist but after reading this and looking at the general attitude of the Government I think I am pretty close to being one.

The term "Single Issue Terrorism" is broadly accepted as extremist militancy on the part of groups or individuals protesting a perceived grievance or wrong usually attributed to governmental action or inaction. Generally, three principal issues are regarded to fall under that definition: animal rights, environmentalism, and abortion.