Towards the end of 1990s, when Kerala’s now-famous policewoman Vinaya switched from saree to pants and shirt, she faced stiff opposition from within and outside the force in the state. Years later, the saree and women’s dress code is once again at the centre of a raging debate in the state after a teacher refused to accept a job offer as the institution insisted that she wear saree on campus.
Amidst the controversy, a government school in Thiruvananthapuram has attracted attention for introducing gender-neutral uniform for its students, perhaps the first such instance in the country.
Vinaya says that such reforms should have been introduced long ago.
“Women’s dresses are designed without any scientific basis,” Vinaya tells Outlook. “Both men and woman have legs and hands, but traditionally they have been asked to wear separate dresses in the name of genetics. Women are conditioned to be always conscious of her dress. Girls cannot run or jump properly because of their dress code,” she says. Women do not have to tolerate anything that’s inconvenient to her—be it her dress or her long hair.”
Vinaya adds, “They are introducing gender-neutral dresses in school now. But I have done it long ago amidst stiff opposition. I knew I was right and the society would eventually get it right.”
She recalls the time when she started her job and had to travel by train frequently. “By the time I reach my destination, my saree’s lower end would be dirtied. On returning from home after a vacation or leave, there were also times when I had to take bath at the waiting rooms of the railway station on the days I get late to report at the office. Saree is not at all comfortable on such occasions. It would get wet in the waterlogged railway bathrooms,” she says.