To see…or…not to see?
To touch…or…not to touch? To speak…or…not to speak? To ban…or…not to ban?
The trouble with
censors is that they worry if a girl has cleavage. They ought to worry if she
hasn't any – Marilyn Monroe
In a civilization, there
is required a certain code of conduct. People are supposed to behave in a
certain manner. But then, if a particular society is bound with numerous rules
and regulations, now and then, with no real solid reasoning, it is bound to
degrade. There is bound to rise a rage. There is bound to occur a revolution. Because
certain rules are bound to be ruled out.
Human body should be
worshipped. We all, individually, live in our bodies. They are our abodes. No
one can take our bodies from us. And every body part exists with a purpose. If
it is somehow not present, we are termed as ‘differently abled’. Then what
about those body parts which are ‘portrayed as absent’. Every other nude
photography I come across has marked nipples. Or else, the shot is taken in a way
that hides nipples. Can there be any part of a human body that should not be
there? Is there something wrong with our bodies on basic design level?
Nipples, in women and
men, are significant…and therefore exist. However, the much privileged gender
can walk with bare chest but not the other one. There is nothing about ‘gender
equality’ here. It is all about ‘giving respect to your body’.
Women cannot appear
with her bare chest. Already a young girl…who has just reached her
adolescence…is quite under confident and miserable about herself. And now, with
the world that consciously carves out guidelines to hide/wrap/edit/cover a
certain body part of a woman that is present in both the genders, she is bound
to be ashamed to be born in a female body. Forget about bare nipples, young
females are made to learn that their chest should always be covered by a piece
of cloth for which the societal word is dupatta. As a result, the minds
of females are programmed in a way that they feel hesitant about their bodies
throughout their lives. Females are flooded with statements like… “dupatta le lo, achcha nahi lagta hai”, “ye
kurta mat pehno, thoda saa transee hai, sab dikh raha hai”, “theek karo, strap
dikh raha hai”…and so on and on. These statements are so deeply embedded in our
system, that even if a male has to hear all of these, surely…he would also feel
ashamed of his body, particularly chest. And the entire system, in which we
reside is responsible for this discomfort that a young adolescent female child
faces. That shame, quite conveniently is passed on from generation to
generation.
The focus should
rather be on the ‘basic conditioning of humans’ (men and women,
both) since birth…that human body should be respected…so that everyone could
walk with utmost liberty and self expression. Moreover, the natural tendency
is… ‘more you hide, more is the urge to see’, so such hidden body parts like
nipples only create more lustful negative curiosity, thus degrading the entire
society. So, let’s stay calm and respect our bodies as they are. Afterall, it
is all about ‘just right’ mindset.
