A Mumbai college principal was quoted saying that when women start dressing like men, gender reversal happens in their heads, which leads to their depreciating reproductive systems. Government Polytechnic College principal Swati Deshpande is of the misogynistic viewpoint, blaming girls’ way of dressing up for having a common disease called polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS.
Who would have thought there could be a connection between a person’s way of dressing and that person having hormonal imbalance? But as they say, nothing is impossible and so Deshpande’s thoughts remind us that the struggle for women’s rights has to also be dealt with the mindset of our own gender first.
“I have heard theories on why girls suffer from PCOD at an early age. When they dress like men, they start thinking or behaving like them. There is a gender role reversal in their head. Due to this, the natural urge to reproduce diminishes right from a young age and therefore they suffer from problems like PCOD,” are the exact words uttered by Deshpande.
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It has also been found that women attending the college currently wear the same outfit as the men, which is a shirt and trousers. Also, women in the college are asked to ‘tie plaits’ as opposed to tucking their shirts in. The college administration has put up notices in Marathi that boys and girls will have their own separate space in the canteen. However, they study in the class together. They say that this step has been taken after cases of harassment were reported to the college committee.
The many illogical steps taken by the college like creating separate spaces instead of taking strict action against harassment shows the misplaced and regressive priorities it has. The principal talks from an elevated space which could be very influential and yet her views make no sense in the modern world where women are trying to reclaim their freedom.
People of a higher stature and public speakers need to analyze and re-analyze before speaking in a crowd as it boils down to propagating baseless rumours and spreading patriarchy among the younger lot.
As the news went viral on social media, people spoke up against the principal’s comment. Here are few funny, yet hard-hitting tweets:
https://twitter.com/hankypanty/status/828894312679157760
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