Sit down. Cross your legs. Pull up your neckline. Hide your bra straps. That dress is too short. That neckline is too revealing. You can’t go out like that, its not safe. Do this. Don’t do that.
Growing up as a woman in India, there was almost always a different set of do's and don'ts for girls, compared to boys. I come from a country where a menstruating woman entering a temple can cause riots, where government officials openly cite tight jeans as a reason for rape, where the safety of cows is a bigger priority than the safety of women. When you grow up in an environment like this, it becomes the norm for you to alter your own thoughts and behaviours to allegedly feel ‘safe’, rather than the other way around.
Growing up as a woman in India, there was almost always a different set of do's and don'ts for girls, compared to boys. I come from a country where a menstruating woman entering a temple can cause riots, where government officials openly cite tight jeans as a reason for rape, where the safety of cows is a bigger priority than the safety of women. When you grow up in an environment like this, it becomes the norm for you to alter your own thoughts and behaviours to allegedly feel ‘safe’, rather than the other way around.
I was curious about how women across the world feel in their own societies, so I asked women from around the world: What would you do if you were a man for a day?
Using the metaphor of a vase to represent the theme of constraints, I illustrated various responses.
Endpaper
I hand painted some vases to accompant the book and the prints.
