If I could Say Otherwise

[_Waziri_]

Assalamu Alaikum,

It's been long indeed! These days' exigencies could consume.

Mine is not yet another women bashing topic as is typical of some post you find in the chitchat forum of this board. But an insight into a trend that appears to be consuming even my blood cousins and sisters and which I believe if allowed unchecked could go along way into influencing the mind of many among our future daughters.

Sometime back I noticed one of our friends here reasoning that women are most shy since they cannot display their nakedness as men do. I really was wondering if that could be a measure of shyness when I realise the need for us look at modern fashion and the image it reflects of womanhood. Perhaps I see it a problem because I spend almost 14 hours of my day always in University environment like ABU with a diverse population of about 35 thousand students from all parts of the country. But even then, that trend in fashion is one which we can see coming into many of our homes and affecting the mindset of our people seriously.

I really wonder what informs the conception of our new generation of students on fashion and dressing. I everyday see women increasingly dressing half naked in the name of fashion. The latest are the series of clothes in the name of show me "your breast". Woman will dress with almost half of her breast exposed. One would wonder as to what is it she wants? Why the desperation? What informs her feeling of self-respect and worth? What are her values? What does she want to achieve in life?

Many a times you see them not only with skimpy dresses but also very thinly knitted shirts, at times black with white brazier as an outline or white with black brazier as an outline. They stand in front of you; they start emphasizing their womanness at the expense of humanness.

I was in my early twenties few years back when I was managing the busiest place in the Campus. We had to enact rules that we would not be attending any lady that feels she is a woman not a human being. We sometimes had to boldly tell them to come close to us only when they feel they are human beings not women. I asked one lady the other time: is there no way you can feel important enough but by dressing this wise? You can get your feeling of importance by being intelligent, humorous or by even being interested in bashing men just like that.

Where does lie their pride? Most disheartening of this is when you see the increasing number of our women who join the trend everyday. More of the discontent is when you see some parents encouraging their children into it by chastising them not. Just this morning I jokingly (not directly) told one of my elderly students that I can never ever marry her daughter who does not have any idea of achieving self worth apart from showcasing her body.

Well you too could say I was hard and harsh but people must just learn to understand that theirs is conscience, conscience, conscience every time. Though I wish I could say other wise.