Burqa and mini skirt - Symbols of liberation or oppression?

Symbolism is of great importance for any civilization. Various symbols can convey messages about our culture, habits, traditions, and values. The clothes we wear are one such symbol. A society where people are free to wear whatever they want based on their own needs and tastes can claim to be a free and tolerant place. Societies, where the dress code is strictly implemented against the wish of people, and they are forced to wear a certain type of clothing cannot claim to be a free society. Our clothing is a type of self-expression. Many of us try to express ourselves using the way we dress, actually, this is one of the reasons why we wear different dresses for different occasions. I am not a supporter of a dress code. Note that school uniforms are a different ball game, it has a special educational purpose. I like to wear clothes in which I feel comfortable. I hate the idea of being forced to wear a certain type of clothing against my wish. Social pressure or peer pressure can be considered as the other two important factors that force people to follow certain clothing habits.

Many times Burqua (or a veil) is propagated as a sign of oppression of women. It is true that forcing women or for that matter anyone to wear a certain type of clothing against their wish is wrong. However, what if they are doing it out of their own choice? Can then we call it a freedom to choose or do we need to look deeper? I think it is not that straightforward. We must ask, under what circumstances that choice is offered? Is there any indirect pressure to dress or appear in a certain way to satisfy social norms? Is there peer pressure or fear of serious social and professional repercussions if they don't dress in a certain way? These questions might help us to understand the situation in a better way, rather than concluding anything only based on the dress. I have seen women wearing dark burqas on extremely hot summer days and mini skirts and high heels on extremely cold days. In both conditions, the clothing totally defied the needs dictated by the weather conditions. I always wondered which one of them can be considered that she was free to choose her dress? Maybe none of them. Just because someone is wearing a burqa doesn't mean that person is living in an oppressed culture and just because someone is wearing a mini skirt doesn't mean they are living in a free society. Real freedom means people make informed choices. They choose what they want based on their own needs and requirements, not based on what society expects from them. One lady mentioned to me that it is not easy to be a woman even in developed countries as there are very high expectations about the way they should look and dress. She told me that most people think that women should not have any body hair except on the head, eyelids, and eyelashes. I was shocked to know about these expectations. It is very natural to have body hair, it is a natural part of being a living organism, but to force someone to get rid of it just because of some ridiculous beauty standard is ridiculous, but it seems there is such an unreasonable expectation and most women have to do this. If they don't then the social and professional penalties are severe. 

Women need to fight this stereotype on their own, this is one way of subjugating them by putting the burden of unreasonable expectations about their external appearance. Forcing a burqa is as bad as forcing a miniskirt, there is no difference. Wearing a bikini or jeans doesn't make you a forward or liberal, at the same time wearing a burqa doesn't make you a backward or oppressed. A person's character should not be decided by the type of clothes they wear. Our clothes should be one of the ways to express ourselves, they should reflect our choices and should be based on our own decisions and needs. Our dress is the true reflection of our personality only when it is our choice, based on free will. A burqa or miniskirt can be a symbol of oppression or freedom depending on under what circumstances people wear it.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing.]

Ashtavakra Gita: A Hidden treasure

While surfing the net to search for some information about mythology-related topics, I stumbled on the Ashtavakra Gita accidentally. I never heard about this book before. Almost everyone (at least in India) knows or has at least heard about the Bhagavad Gita and many other scriptures (like Ramayan, Mahabharat, Vedas, Upanishads, etc.), but I have never heard about this book from anybody. When I read this book (an English translation, as the original book is in Sanskrit), I wondered why no one ever mentioned this to me. Even in today’s Hindu religion, this book doesn't have an equal status like the Bhagavad Gita and others, and believe me, it deserves to be right there with all these books. I think it’s largely ignored because of its simplicity and straight-to-the-point approach. It doesn't give any promises, doesn't have any interesting characters, supernatural, powerful creatures, an engaging storyline, no scope for any interpretation, not attributed to any celebrated author. It’s also a very short text compared to other scriptures and delivers its message directly without any complications.

There is no doubt that this work is very old, maybe older than the Mahabharat and the Ramayan. It’s not that this work was not known or studied, but somehow it always remained underutilized and ignored by the masses and popular bhakti movements. It was appreciated, and quoted by Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, and Osho, as well as some other scholars like Radhakrishnan refer to it with great respect.

This text documents the dialogue between King Janaka of Mithila and sage Ashtavakra. In the first verse itself, King Janaka asks an important question that troubles most people: “How is one to acquire knowledge? How is one to attain liberation? And how is one to reach dispassion?” and the discussion starts from there. As I said, no formalities, no drama, straight to the point. This Gita explains in very simple terms what knowledge is, how to attain liberation, and other stuff. This book is not about any religion, not about any God or its superpowers, and doesn't threaten you or promise you any incentives, but I think it's still very effective. It's so simple in its approach that it makes you think about why other texts try to deliver a similar message in a much more complicated way. I think we love complicated stuff; that's why other books are so popular compared to this one. 

The Ashtavakra Gita says that one is already free once one realizes one is free.

You are the one witness of everything and are always completely free. The cause of your bondage is that you see the witness as something other than this. (1.7)

If you see yourself as a witness of things, not as a doer or beneficiary of your actions, then life becomes simple (for people who are troubled by their actions and attachments).    

If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of oneself as bound, one is bound. Thinking makes it so. (1.11)

So, to be free or to be attached, all is in our hands; no book or Guru can help us in this unless we help ourselves. He doesn't say to pay anybody or beg for mercy with any superpower, as we are the power that can make ourselves free. That's why no organized religion touches this text, as there is nothing to sell; this book is not offering any product like god or religion to sell.

The book also talks about renunciation, attachment, and detachment. The book talks about a desireless person in the following verse,

Those who desire pleasure and those who desire liberation are both found in this world, but the person who desires neither pleasure nor liberation is rare indeed. (17.5)

There is no meaning in accepting or rejecting any religion or any material things. It explains the futility of doing these things; people may think that he is trying to preach atheism in the following verses, 

It is only the noble-minded who is free from attraction or repulsion to religion, wealth, sensuality, and life and death too. (17.6)

A fool often shows aversion towards his belongings, but for him, whose attachment to the body has dropped away, there is neither attachment nor aversion. (18.62)

About places like heaven and hell, the book says,

There is neither heaven nor hell nor even liberation during life. In a nutshell, in the sight of the seer, nothing exists at all. (18.80)

about dispassion, he says,

The dispassionate man does not praise the good or blame the wicked. Content and equal in pain and pleasure, he sees nothing that needs doing. (18.82)

I am not going to discuss the whole book here; I just wanted to introduce it to readers of my blog. It’s a good book to read (not sacred or anything), my recommendation is just to read it once and then see if it suits your needs or not. I found this one to be the most direct and straightforward among all the scriptures I read. I don’t say that follow everything written in this book (and I don’t say this about any other book either), just take what you feel is relevant to you and leave the rest. I can assure you that if you are looking for answers to questions about life and its meaning, liberation, etc., you won’t regret reading it.

Thanks for reading and please share your views.

Reference:

http://www.realization.org/page/doc0/doc0004.htm (I used this translation in my post)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtavakra_Gita

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)