A stone’s throw away from the Madhya Kailash temple, bordering the woods of IIT, Madras, stood a decrepit Institute of Tamil Language and Culture (now called Roja Muthiah Research Library). I chanced upon the gems that place holds in its dusty shelves and moth eaten library when I went to read up on Tamil textile history many years ago.
My reading revealed that until the 14th Century, as with most of India, before garment making, costume making and cutting and dress making were known, men and women were clad in a long piece of cloth that they pleated and knotted about their waist. Above the waist an upper cloth, a thundu, if you may call it so, was also used. Aristocratic women were often bare-breasted and they often annointed sandalwood paste and coolants over their breasts in the heat. Women of the serving class were known to cover their breasts with a kachai, a ribbon like cloth fastened and knotted at the back;mensturating women and lactating mothers too were known to wear the band around their breasts, especially in the zenana.
Tamil epic Silapadigaram makes mention of breasts as a tool of vengeance when Kannagi, the epic’s protagonist, in righteous fury, tears one of her breasts and lobs it to set the city of Madurai in flames. The famous Chola bronzes that were said to have been made a thousand years ago depicted the female form, as goddess or otherwise, in frescoes and sculptures in temples as bare-breasted.
Consequent evolved forms of garment-making and tailoring came with ideas bought by invaders and subsequent colonisers who introduced different techniques of garment-making, tailoring and a happy amalgamation of styles and habits perhaps coalesed to form the kind of jackets, cholis, skirts that began to be worn by women in India. The sari in its many forms worn across the country did not have an accompanying blouse until much later.
Given their former state of undress makes you wonder what men of those times did about such provocation?
Because it seems that men are custodians of what women ought to wear. Else ask the Asins, Shriya Sarans and Mallika Sherawats who are admonished for their ’inappropriate’ clothing in Chennai.
Kamalahasan’s forthcoming film Dasavataram will have Mallika Sherawat doing a jig on screen that will be watched by many such male judges of Tamil female honour and proprierty, who will whistle and cheer lustily at her glamour, skimpy costume, seductive display of limbs and curves for their benefit in the darkness of the cinema hall. Considering politics and cinema are close cousins in Tamil Nadu, it may not be surprising if select screenings of the film are shown for the political masters of the state. No Tamil man, watching it, will find it objectionable. Afterall it’s cinema, and anything goes and what’s a wench who flashes her bits for their consumption?
However a different code of conduct and morality governs the private felicitation platform unlike the public screening of a film. Here egotistic heroes, self-important filmmakers, wily politicians will gather to promote the film. Of course the heroes would tog out in starched white veshtis and trousers and shirts, their impeccable reputations resting on the Ujjala whiteness of their threads. But as with flowers that decorate a table, the actress is expected to lend glamour to alleviate the gravitas of the important masculine gathering. She will clap her lovely hands in appreciation, help light a lamp and gush sweet words of thanks to the top dogs on the dias and dress up to invite attention.
Shreya Saran, the PYT of the monster-hit Sivaji was earlier hauled up by loony groups like Hindu Makkal Katchi for displaying her cleavage during a commemoration ceremony of the film that seemed nothing to the amount she displayed in the film. Poor Ms Saran and Ms.Sherawat have been quick to cower and apologise for any unintended ‘insults on Tamil culture’. Because they now know that Tamil culture rest on women’s sartorial choices.
This is the state where the chief minister’s literary outputs included purple passages and details of the curve and crest of his female characters in his literary canons meant for public readership. This is the film industry whose toe-tapping numbers have lyrics that include vulgar innuendoes and metaphors on female genitalia and coitus whose audio releases are feted and celebrated.
This is not about whether Saran’s boobs were out or whether Sherawat’s knickers were peeping. This is about who decides what is appropriate conduct and dress code for women in Chennai. While the old Dravidian canons proclaim that they stood for women’s empowerment alongside social upliftment, the cultural and gender aspirations were quite opposite. The metaphor went that maatran veedu malligai manakkum (the blossom in the neighbour’s garden smells sweeter). It’s an analogy that hints at the Tamil man’s conquest over the non-Tamil woman, a certain covetousness that he takes as part of his patriarchal privilege. Hence the non-Tamil actress is enjoyed for her fair skin and her uninhibitedness on screen for his voyeuristic enjoyment but also denigrated for indecent exposure.
If the actress is imported for her exposure and commodification why object to her glamourous abandonment? It’s what she’s meant for, is it not? In the mixed-up kink of the male promulgators of Tamil culture and morality, the actress is but a pawn.
Pray why do they decide what is an appropirate dress code for women? And this is the film industry that in blatant constitutional discrimination disallows women make-up professionals and costumiers and will have only dirty old men pat pancake on the heroine’s navels and tie their saris.
Perhaps it’s time that the pretty young things of Bollywood say no to dancing to the tunes of self-imposed champions of Tamil culture. And the captains of Tamil cinema are chivalrous only to weepy mothers and wailing sisters. For them, any other form of female personality is to be trivialised with.
Good one again Maami. I completely agree with you. The attitude that all is fair in cinema, just not in reality sometimes makes me wonder if perhaps these men have no control on themselves. Are they scared that they will be caught oggling at these women on camera? Since Mallika Sherawat’s costume is clearly closer to the traditional tamil costume than what we wear these days (a.k.a salwars), I would presume that perhaps there is some kind of fear of scantily dressed women close at hand, that these men have.
(Disfiguring women is a punishment invoked to calm down the threats they feel-so say gender sociologists)
Wow, cool post!
It is not only at the costume that the politicians/moviemen crack the policing whip. They wait for the slightest opportunity to make their presence felt. Remember, Kamal got into trouble with the names of movies like “Vasool Raja” and “Sandiyar”?
I sometimes wonder if he is put into trouble because he is from a particular community.
Here is the latest – http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/38358.html
(Kamal is an isolated renegade-the masses brand him elitist;his community accuses him of selling out)
You hit the right place. It’s always about double standards. Be it on/off screen dress sense or dress codes in engineering colleges.
But, right now, the whole thing has saturated to the point that mallikas and shriyas do it so that they garner more publicity for their film. The HMKs and the PMKs are, rather, making a fool of themselves in the bargain.
(It’s pathetic that publicity demands such regressiveness)
aww brilliant! enna extensive research…
great minds think alike.
(Yup, they do maxu)
Been visiting your blog for some time and like your well argued posts. I completely agree with your admonishment of double standards adopted here in Tamil Nadu. Sheer hypocrisy !
(nandri)
naan solradhukku onnum illai.
(Mounam sammadam-a?)
maami, Enga culture enna culturennu conbusion. yenna panna election varudhu, indha madhiri lam stunt adicha dhana naal voteu villum.
(Ah yes, marandutene)
Very true and wise words Maami. The tamil men are total hypocrits, if I may say so. All is fine if a woman bares it all on screen, but a little bit of skin on a stage is considered to be the end of the world. Tut, tut, tut….
(Tsk tsk indeed)
I wonder maami..did we see so much fuss kicked up during the era of Disco Shanti or Silk Smitha? I s’pose the difference is more flesh on display now demands more angst, while it’s all being gleefully lapped up. Illa?
(Ya.Also the dress code between leading ladies and Silk type item girls is blurring. ‘Record dances’ continue even in this age in interior hamlets where women dressed in un-Tamil way dance for a few pennies before male audiences)
> Perhaps it’s time that the pretty young things of Bollywood say no to dancing to the tunes of self-imposed champions of Tamil culture.
But are they really? All they’re dancing to (like most of us) is the tune of money.
That apart, very well written, as always. The hypocrisy isn’t limited to Tam land by any means. The “cheerleaders” controversy in IPL is just one example.
cheers,
asuph
(True. A few years ago a loony group in Kashmir threatened to throw acid on the faces of women without a burqa.I concentrated on Sherawat issue to narrow down on an ongoing fracas to ask why men call the shots for women’s clothing here.)
I totally agree with your comments on the hypocrisy existing amidst us when it comes to what women should wear.As a society we unnecessarily pretend to be “sacred” and are the second most populous nation in the world.Perhaps children are born only by Prayer to Rama or krishna.
But yeah,I dont accept ,the pblm is created only by males.There are a fair share of women who frown upon and teach others on what to wear and what to bare!!.The pblm isnt XX or XY..The problem is that we seldom want to accept that we are a voyeuristic society.
(Women frown upon each other’s clothing as a form of protectiveness. “Don’t wear that and call for unwanted attention from men” is their worry.Here an actress is called to dance and dress down and then abused for doing what she is contracted to. Why did not the organisers ask her to wear a Kanchivaram sari keeping in mind the traditions of the land? She is bound to wear what they demand by their promotional contract no?)
Maami,
I had the same thoughts when I read the Mallika Sherawat story some days ago…I’m just wondering how skimpy her costumes are going to be in the movie and how everyone is going to cheer that, but she must be covered head to toe for political functions or the stage – such double standards! Although on another angle, I wonder why these heroines choose to dress down for functions held by people with this mindset – guess any publicity is good publicity for them, thats why
(Yeah, Kamal, RaviKumar and dear Mr MuKa have not objected to her dress.It was for publicity afterall)
great post, as usual.
(nandri)
maami…yo,great piece! sometime women decide what other women ought to wear too. at a party here in the US, one of the annoying ladies asked my cousin if her parents were aware of her dressing in short dresses…wteff? also, the unwritten rule is a tamil/brahm/madrasi ideally wouldn’t wear anything like sphagetti tops, mini skirts or suchlike. what does me being a tam brahm got to do anything with my streaked hair, clothes ? cha!
(Achacho!)
Its like the chicken-egg story. Do women show flesh to attract male attention or the men in command demand that of women in the movies?
Another point is that its a dog-eat-dog world out there. Most woman actors compete with each other to stay on top…
Sad.
Do we wish for women who’ll stand up for themselves or castration of those hypocritcal men?
(What does it matter to the man who wants to have chicken for lunch whether the hot chick has appropriate feathers or not
padmaja maami: dog eating, chicken eating, soraputtu making, aatu ratham in thairsadham vuding – Idha thavara verai onnume solla maattelaa? Bwahahahaha.
(‘Ullo dude, because of you I’m getting scolding from her too)
Oy scooter mama! I knew you’ll say something! You guys are more obsessed with my son’s diet than him!!!
(Sorry ma, it’s not my business what you feed him
@ maami: did ya edit my comment? I thought I wrote a lil bit more, though i exactly don’t remm…
@mayo: I can drive down to C-city!
(Huh? What?
P.S I knew Pandaribai, but you are a naughty ‘bai’) )
Maami.
I am in awe. You write so beautifully. I can’t tell you how many times I have had the same conversation with a number of people. I went to one those colleges that thought saree/half-saree was the tamilian tradition even though it showed a lot more skin and was much more cumbersome to manage on a bus than a salwar. There were many days that I staked out of the princi’s office to get her to change the rules but I was told, this is “tamilian” culture. Isn’t culture more than the way your dress?
Btw-I’ve become a fan of your writing. Looking forward to lot more of your musings.
(Nandri)
[...] comments on the recent controversies about clothes worn by actresses at public functions down south. [Hat tip: Adithya] While the old Dravidian canons proclaim that they stood for women’s [...]
Good one. These kinds of invectives about hypocrisy are meted out to no one in particular, because as usual, denouncement cannot be used to diminish certain classes, not if we want to get away with it.
My idealist picture is not complete yet – each time I think we have potentially ideal pictures and visions of the world (such as a nudist policy that may solve all such problems of exposure, indecent or decent), realities hit back again. I don’t know what can be done to solve some of these problems ingrained in our society – it is almost like asking for a change in the very nature of humans themselves.
There’s another tendency of some of us, especially those who embark on invectives, to glorify the past. I don’t know how reliable some of the information in these libraries is, given that they themselves date back to no more than a few hundred years. Given that historians changed with the emperor (even within dynasties), much information about India’s social and cultural past is quite unreliable. Having said that, one cannot ascribe fiction to reality – Kannagi’s breasts may have burned Madurai down, but such a sexual, moral metaphor is no more than a repressed expression of the ethical context of the story.
Bertrand Russell expatiates on naked power (sic) in his collection of essays, “Power”. There is obviously a connection with the male tendency to rape and the concept of naked power. Naked power is the power that beings with specific characteristics have on one another, and if social structure permits that the big brothers are all brothers and not sisters, there is perhaps no way of positing that sisters and not brothers should do the deciding when it comes to who wears what. Sadly, Big Brother separates sense from taste. What we need is probably a unified, sustainable recognition of the roles of the man and the woman in society, which will in turn lead us to the acceptable consensus on what is correct to wear and what is not. Tradition used to make all this very simple, but now we have to reinvent the… er… wheel, as it were.
Obviously, grey area arguments tend to go nowhere, so I will stop here.
(Hmm, indeed grey.)
maami,
/*Why Men Decide What Women Ought to Wear */
Did I miss the answer to this question in your post (or) this wasn’t a question at all?
(You decide?)
Hi Maami
Jus’ to go along the history route…there is nothing called a traditional dress.
The clothing style of the past is “traditional”.
As you rightly mentioned, saree and blouse are “recent”.
In Kerala,there used to be something like “Mula-Kacha” from what I have understood and I have heard from my grand mother that it was when she was a kid (around 1920-30s) that blouse came in vogue in the part of Kerala she lived.
And Pudava was replaced by Saree.
So, there is nothing as a set dress or a Tamil costume or something. It keeps evolving.
Boo all the so called keepers of Tamil culture.
-Nikhil
(True, culture evolves and traditions change, if only they did for the better? There’s an interesting passage in Amitav Ghosh’s ‘The Glass Palace’ on how the sari, as we wear it today, was learnt to be draped sometime in the 1920s)
I thought your entire post was on that there is nothing called as tradition of the land,then from where does the Kanchipuram saree come from here????does “organisers” have a all-male connnotation here??Are u saying that women dress skimpily only because of what men say??
In that case,if she is going to wear,what her organisers/producers etc want her to wear,Have we ever heard any actress say that it is part of her vocation to dress nicely(!).Sadly ,all that they say is ,”I didnt hurt tamil sentiments,blah..blah…”
@ padmajav comments…I think her point i right.
“Another point is that its a dog-eat-dog world out there. Most woman actors compete with each other to stay on top…
Sad.
Do we wish for women who’ll stand up for themselves or castration of those hypocritcal men?”
(Kanchivaram was a mock suggestion I made. A PIL is languishing in Madras High Court because the Tamil film union disallows women constumiers and make up professionals. It’s the male costumiers who dress the actresses in Kodambakkam. Top leading ladies, with experience and clout, can choose their costumes but it’s the men who dress them up unlike in Mumbai film industry. Ergo, an item girl is asked to lend glitter to a movie’s promotional proceedings, by men who make the movie, by dressing up for the occasion. The male organisers wouldn’t approve if she wore a starched sari or a gown and wimple. ‘Malliga madam, glamoura vaanga’ is what they’d say. Whether it works to her advantage or not, is her call. Hypocrisy is gender neutral?)
I wait for the day when tamil heroes are ready to touch a skimipily or otherwise clad “dark girl” even with a barge pole.
(
You expose the hypocrisy of the Tamil male. I mean , very revealing, oops, no pun intended at all.
I saw a film which is a runaway success where the hero claims he wants a bride steeped in Tamil culture and if any girl dared to walk around in the kind of clothes his leading lady wore in that film, she might have been stoned. (I think this was the same actress whose attire was the subject of one day’s discussion in the state assembly!)
Namma political system democracy and social system hypocrisy. Enna panradu.
(‘Hey ballelakka ballekka’ -he even sang a Tamil sounding song for her
the hypocrisy charge doesnt stick. Because these guys are not really offended by the off screen show nor the on screen one. Just it pays politically and garners publicity for HMK, PMK whatever. It would be hypocritic if they really enjoy the onscreen exposure and dont enjoy the off screen one
) and eat it too (pretend to be offended and garner publicity)
It is a purely practical pragmatic idea to garner publicity. And no, they arent the fools. You DID take them seriously, didnt you? That is what they want. In other words, these guys have the cake (Saran’s boo…whatever, see, I am an unabashed admirer of feminine exposure
“Why did not the organisers ask her to wear a Kanchivaram sari keeping in mind the traditions of the land”
You are crazy or what? Why would they do it? Advantages of having your heroine come skimpily dressed to functions:
1. Fans – the stupid ones – drool and “expectations” raised for the film
2. Controversy created , and additional publicity for the film
3. If you are Mu.ka, free cabaret shows and free old-age-viagra schemes every few months. If you the organiser can thus can ’satisfy’ the CM, some strategic political leverage for the organiser. Presumably, CM is too old to demand anything more than cleavage show.
4. Win-Win for everyone including the actress, organisers, film crew, distributors, theatre owners, HMK, PMK, Dinakran(excuse to post some provocative pictures of the said actresses), SUN TV(more ’software’ for their news programmes!), and ofcourse, last but not the least, lascivious males like me , who get what they want.
Now, who in their right mind would object to this -it looks to me as if the whole society has something to benefit from this scenario
“.. wonder maami..did we see so much fuss kicked up during the era of Disco Shanti or Silk Smitha”
Simple. The only political parties of significance or ambition didnt really need these sort of stunts to come into prominence.
Now, if you arent DMK or ADMK with an assured vote base, or even Congress with its ‘history’, you need some way to attract attention. Hence these stunts.
Also, with the net and the satellite channels, there is enough publicity to this sort of thing now. Maybe, in 1986, HMK did kick up dust over the Disco Peace woman but *DISCUSSION ON ThAT died out in letters to Kumudam, vikatan and Dina Thanthi and the said publications themselves*. Who knows? Infact, I love this theory. Everything now receives attention on Net and TV hence we feel it didnt exist in 1986, 0r 66 or 46 or whatever. I am sure all such nonsense existed previously also.
@maami:
lol @ ‘bai’ bit.
@lolludavinci:
they call it chic-town for a reason. 
achacho, maami is gonna throw us out! 
…for more eye-candy?
(Nah! I find it sweet that little birds go cheep-cheep in my space!)
[...] Maami's Weblog comments on the sudden spurt of Indian female actors being criticized for what they wear in Chennai. Posted by Neha Viswanathan Share This [...]
Very well written, as always. I’ve always wondered about this. I’ve never been so aware of and so uncomfortable with what I was wearing than when I am travelling around in India, and especially South India. I end up wearing voluminous salwar kameezs.
(And next time around, remember that thali too!)
First off – well written, maami. I am a new fan.
Everyone knows that political parties that raise non-issue matters like this fall into 1 of 2 categories – 1) teeny, tiny parties that need some media time, and/or 2) parties that rely on “values” as their key driver, coz they have no real takes on issues of importance. (wait, do any Dravidian parties have stances on issues of importance – other than what brand of color TV the poor will receive for free!
Regarding the topic itself, it’s not just clothes – men have decided what women collectively can and can not learn, see, say or do since the dawn of modern civilization. Not that I subscribe to this viewpoint, but every culture has had the idea that an unmarried woman is a ward of her father, and a married one, of her husband. Collectively then, most men thought of themselves as being in a position of authority over women. Just think for a second – how many decisions in history were made by a group of women – in Greece, in Rome, in India, in Egypt, in China? Men thought that they knew what was best for women, throughout history. This didn’t start changing until the 20th century, and in many places, especially in the conservative South, it is still the case. As long as men see women as their wards, they will try to decide what is and what is not appropriate for them. Again, I reiterate, I do not think a woman is any man’s dependant- but, for every guy who thinks like me, you will find 10 in Tamil Nadu who don’t.
@CW: Unlike the soft-core actresses of yesteryear like Silk Smita and Disco Shanti, at least Shriya and Asin are mainstream actresses. Young children tend to follow mainstream actors, as they are all over the media and B-grade stars rarely get any attention. Not that I support this view point, but just trying to pose an argument for why it is more of an issue now than before.
Now onto something lighter – given the recent trend of 6-pack baring in Bollywood, I am sure that there will soon be “item songs” with dudes in Tamil movies as well! I wonder if these same groups will protest then!
(No objection to our Beefcake Murugans, their six packs, tiffin-carriers, idlis, milord. It’s wonly these ladies, they need to learn, mind it!)
Too funny, maami! I know huh? Like that keeps men from leering. I remember thinking when I was young, that if I were married, the looks/pinches/suggestive comments would stop. Because men respect the married women. And rever them, and treat them with respect. Ha.
(Ha, indeed)
Dear Maami,
I am a member of the Hindu Makkal Katchi and I believe we have a very valid point when they protest the provocative dresses of Shriya or Mallika. I agree. It is entirely against our pure, pristine Hindu culture. In Hindu culture, history, tradition and religion, women need to have large, almost implant-like breasts, and need to be completely naked except for some flimsy cloth protecting 3rd base. Additionally, dancing with a group of other similarly dressed extras is just not enough. Haven’t you seen our temple sculptures? To be fully compliant with our culture, they need to be making all kinds of physical, sexual and contortionist contact with both men and women on screen. Until our actresses do that, the HMK will continue to protest this blatant disrespect to the traditional Hindu way of portraying women in the public sphere.
Sadguru Bajrang Pillai
Chief Blog-Commenting Officer, Hindu Makkal Katchi
(Yes Saar, amman saar, anything you say saars.
P.S.Eternally thankful for deciding our wardrobes)
I agree that a political party(i wouldnt use the word ‘men’, the party has many women) doesn’t get to dictate what one wears. I recognize the hypocrisy in their stand & argument.
However what gets unnoticed is the hypocrisy of folks who take a stand supporting these women. good fashion starts with wearing the ‘right’ attire for the occation. mallika/shreya was as inappropriate as a women in sarre in a hip Discothèque. If political party is looking for mileage out if the issue, then these women were looking for the same by wearing those kind of dresses.
I think india haven’t reached such a economical prosperity that the women liberation means ‘right to wear miniskirts’, because there are probably 0.0001% females who can even affort a skirt.
At this point women lib means..
1) rights to protect against domestic and social violence
2) rights to choose the man they want to live with. (or to live without one and it is absolutely ok to do so)
3) have a good career, and become self supporting.
shreya/mallika are smart individuals and they will take care of themselve.
(I agree that issues you mention are more important. However social violence that includes a culture of intolerance needs to be resisted too.An artist who earns crores can take care of himself, sure, but if intolerant groups burn down his paintings;else if a screening of a film on Gujarat riot victims is halted, it’s not that the filmmakers don’t have money, but it makes sense to condemn it for the larger support of social equilibrium.If this is the censure for the moneyed, imagine the plight of poor and the voiceless?)
However social violence that includes a culture of intolerance needs to be resisted too.An artist who earns crores can take care of himself, sure, but if intolerant groups burn down his paintings;else if a screening of a film on Gujarat riot victims is halted, it’s not that the filmmakers don’t have money, but it makes sense to condemn it for the larger support of social equilibrium.If this is the censure for the moneyed
Yes.., intolerance towards free speech or artist/film maker’s work should be resisted, Because an artist’s(of either sex) work brings little more value to the table than a glamorous women in mini-skirt, and most of the time artists have a constructive motive, they tend to think beyond themself and want to imporove the society in some way or other.
Intolerance towards wearing mini-skirts, come on.., are you kidding…?, What kind of response one should expect in such a sex starved society…?, I’m surprized that people get surprized about such reactions.
BTW, I do like minis skirts and mallika is probably one of the 2 indian women who look good in it.
(the other one is illeana)
(Waa, I mean whaat does Ms.Sherawat do to gain samarthu boyz approval?)
Forgot something…, If i get to pick top 10 blogs for Times, i will include yours. Please do not stop ever..,
[...] and we aren’t even talking about cheerleaders. Maami writes on the recent controversies about clothes worn by actresses at public functions down south [posted by [...]
Interesting post !
You are talking about the Victorian and i can say currently American culture that has seeped into Indian ethos, one that you also live in because u have used the more American word boob instead of the more natural breast …
The French, the Scandinavians and the Europeans still have a totally different attitude towards nudity , and as i see it the south indians are no different from most other indians except maybe the nicobarses and some north eastern tribes
Here nudity is mixed up with being unchaste and uncivilised
no wonder this moral policing from politicians whose mental maturity is suspect..
Things were different in the vedic period
(We’re getting rather mixed up aren’t we?)
Chancey illa maami.
You are awesome.
(Nandri)
Hallo Maami
Sooper blog post, poango. Ennudaiya 2 cents.
“.Also the dress code between leading ladies and Silk type item girls is blurring. ‘Record dances’ continue even in this age in interior hamlets where women dres”
You nailed it. During the Golden Age of Silukku Sumitha, there was a clear divide between the good wife and the town whore. Now that’s changing and that’s what has us Dravidian culture vultures in a twist.
We Dravidian men have no problems with “record dances” as long as the ones doing the dancing are not from our own “decent families.”
Ella pombalaigalum avuthu poattu aadina namma kalaachaarum/panpaadu/kattuppaadu/kurumbaadu ellaam enna aagarathu?
Thanga thalaivi, thaanai thalaivi Mallika Sherawat mattum aadina yaaravathu vendaanna sollappora!
(Right, mallikavuku jai
That was a great post ,I completely agree with u..
We have a bunch of hypocrites ruling the state. . .Its amusing that these losers who have not one moral bone in their body talk about morality !! Its a free country, for crying out loud! who are they to decide anyone else’s wardrobe?
(Yennatha solla po!)
i am not commenting on the point you make but this is a poorly written post. i dont know why anyone would call this an example of good writing. Again, if they are doing so because of the points you raise, no complaints. but times 10 best blogs ellaam…. i mean, isnt writing a requisite any more? Is it all about the points you make – good points = good article?
or by any chance indiatimes 10 best blogs-la solraara? That this blog would definitely fit into.
Come on folks…
Men are generally jobless… They watch TV, news and pass on judgements on everything around the world like who would rule karnataka, pakistan, russia’s oil etc… .
Worse, their dress cant go anything beyond dhoto, trouser & shirt combo…
So out of sheer jealous feeling, we take it on girls… Whereas women take all important decisions like living locality, what to be in the home, kids higher education etc…
Pls understand
(Ah wokay wokay boss)
in what sense
pray please elucidate …
(Like you say, while things could have been different in Vedic times, today we are drawn towards the American culture of permissiveness and licentiousness, but Victorian prudery keeps butting in with our sensibilities evoking mixed responses.)
thanks
also our rulers, who are themselves poorly educated , want to keep it that way cause it is much easier to manipulate minds.
Its no different in the Us too, they still burn abortion clinics even though the society is way more free than over here.
(Ah yes)
Amazing writing as usual, maami
Was the “saratorial” below a typo or an intended pun?
Because they now know that Tamil culture rest on women’s saratorial choices.
K.
(Spelling mistake. Corrected it. Thanks for pointing it out)
nice post…thought provo(cat)/(k)ing. but hasn’t this been the case for a long time? Often I wonder what women are doing to change this. If kollywood imports like Shriya had the balls they would have refused to get dressed up by male costume dressers. No change will happen till ppl take to the streets. Men decide what women can wear because women allow them to….lemme ask a question…if a husband asks his own wife to walk out naked…she would chop his head off…but she will allow him to dictate her not to wear a chudidar because it satisfies popular sentiments and she will not get support from her own inner circle members. If a women didnt give a damn and walked the way she liked…am sure no HMK PMK DMK or any other K K can stop her…one of the saddest things I witnessed was seeing kushboo getting harassed for making a very very valid comment…but hey if we can ban sex education because it affects the moral fabric of our country and say the WHO figures for HIV/AIDS affected ppl in India are cooked up I guess we can do anything. Hypocrisy is one of humanity’s greatest vices…if u look properly every aspect of society is littered with it…I guess the only place a man will allow a woman to be herself is in bed…that too only if he so wishes
(Ah a friendly spirit! Welcome your thoughts
You know the double standard bullshit is getting way out of hand. Secretly these are the men who would want a freak in the bed..In my country , the main religion encourages women to scarf their head. I daresay the scarf actually covers more then their head.. their voice and intelligence.Why , because these are also the group that ends up in hundreds of porn video’s distributed locally by these so called religious fanatic men have a fetish for women with scarf.
(Sounds like that poor joke during school that went, ‘Cover the face and fire the base’)
Fascinating post… Really enjoying it.
(Thanks)
Ada pongo maami.
My four year old asks me why she has to wear a swim suit to the pool while boys swim with jetti. Valid point thaan. Four year old child jetti yoda swim panna enna? But I don’t want my child to be molested by pedophiles, of which there are plenty.
Given a choice between safety and birthright, I am cowardly enough to choose safety.
Ennai maadiri cowards irukkara varaikkum men will continue to dictate the female wardrobe.
(Ippave badi yedukkungara unga ponnu? I see the feminist torch being carried forward by her in years to come)
Interesting to read all the comments and opinions on this post. Hypocrisy has no solution, but can be understood.
America has a number of “hidden” social engineering programmes, which have moulded their culture – some of these are the dating culture which has basically turned into a culture of teen sex, the huge medical scam that is the healthcare system in the US has also been engineered, television – religious and political programming on free-to-air channels and even paid channels are largely state-influenced. There are a number of media factors at work that control the information that consumers of the media get to see, who then decide what’s hot news and what is not.
India’s media is pseudo-directional, and is in essence a cacophony of myriad voices that drown out a lot of the facts behind the news. It is a tug of war between the liberated media and the conservative/traditional groups that have a standing/involvement in political parties.
Often, what is projected (whether Shriya was under-dressed or not) seems to be the invectives of a few men against her which seems projected through the media, essentially amplifying his opinion against the other salivating types who’d rather prefer to see her skimpy on the screen. Better still, take the case of Rakhi Sawant who engineers just such discord in order to have her name spelt out in the newspapers. Naturally, that only helps her just as the racism issue against Shilpa Shetty won her Big Brother and a whole lot of fame/sympathy for all the wrong reasons – and for a persistently well known reason – British double standards against Indians. The Tamil media does not blow up stories of doctors’ victories against the British government abroad, (or, say, Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran’s latest brain surgery success), but instead makes big news out of Shriya’s cleavage.
The chicken and egg question for media apologists, seems to be whether they should actively censure such cultural “lapses” by Shriya or Khushboo, or whether they should play down such and encourage news that actually promotes “our culture” rather than slam those who are seen as deviants from it!
(Dasavataram is yet to release. What does one do in Madras then?)
Dear Maami, this is a really intriguing post.
when you mention tamil epics such as silapadigaram, i guess the woman is portrayed in a divine form. when we hear about the incident where draupadi is being undressed by duryodhana, the first ting that comes into (at least my mind !) our minds is the help from lord krishna……..fortunately, i hope we havent stooped to the level where we think about what all was exposed during that process. i guess anytime we associate something or someone with god or mythological significance, the action or the deed and its purpose takes greater significance over the materialistic details. after all thats the purpose of some of these epics and stories…
now coming to film industry…well, having said the word “industry”, thinking about it on a philosophical plane seems strange to me
because its business. ppl are selling products. earlier they used to be stories and beautiful plots and storylines, and now a days its more about glitz and glamour. and since males control the flux of lucre as far as this industry is concerned, they get to control other aspects as well….i do not mean this in any other way than stating the facts…i hope i am correct in saying that most of the folks who supply money to film industry are males…i guess if females were in control of the same, then instead of maami, a maama would be writing this piece 
i guess we talk about “moral degradation” (at least in tamil cinema) probably because the extent of skin exposure has been increasing progressively with time…..its a human tendency to probe more into whats hidden from them…..film-makers have identified skin as one such aspect and they are fully exploiting it…i guess there exists a female following that drools over bare chested or scantily clad men too…..
but hopefully things will change……ppl who are known for skin-exposure are short lived because so called fresh skin arrives on a regular basis…..but the padminis, rupinis, savitris and sridevis are forever
form is temporary, class is forever…that sort of an analogy….
Relating this to mythology, why do you think there arent many temples dedicated to Lord Indra
maybe because of those three damsels 
I really enjoyed reading this post. great vocabulary….please keep ‘em coming !
(Nandri)
Exactly my thoughts when I read about the controversy. In fact, I saw the trailer of Dasavatharam and compared to what she wore in the movie, Mallika was extremely well-dressed in the function. Why can’t we have the same standards for dressing up (or down, as the case may be
) – be it for on-screen or off. I wonder…
(Hmmmm…)
maami…where art thou?
new post…I WANT!
Maami..I think it’s about time we all started pouring in comments on another new post? Enga kaanaama poitel?
Maami,
Vacation la poittela?? Inge long weekend remba bore adikkardhu… samathaa ezhundu vandhu pramaadhama oru post ezhudungo…[:D]
nalla sonningu maami.
(nandri)
There are far more important issues to be dealt with and all that the inane politicians can come up with is the dress code and the like. While many mind blowing innovations happen in other countries like Japan and China where people are trained to become entrepreneurs, here people are trained to become slaves, rather than masters. The politicians might not give a damn about all this, but they might at least stop meddling with the quota issue.As a person born in the upper echelon of society, it gives me great displeasure and anger to point out that what is to be given importance, is ignored. The country will never develop if such base politicians continue to ruin our country in the name of language and caste.
Well, anyway, i am venturing into group blogging and the venture should be kick started soon-say, in a month. I would like you to be a part of the team. How do you like the idea of donning the role of a regular contributor?
(Flattered by your offer. But I’m consistently inconsistent. So allow me to beg off please
Enga kaanapoitel maami??
(Rekha, Pradeep, Mayo, CW:Sorry blog etiquette yellam follow panname khallus kudutu Madraskku poyiten. I’m back in home in June. If I can, I will surely write. Thanks for your regards.)
Aha… In ceniema field, men decides dress code!!!…
Still I am waiting for 2 hrs outside of silk house, my wife to come out!!! ( posting to her also.. I may not have PORUMAI to select but dare to say ).
I agree now.. reality is opposite to cenieeema!!!!
-Venkat
In china, show me one enterprener!!! All are traditionally SLAVE.
May be those who get money, they are not enterpreeuuennneeer.
with $1000 5 years before you can buy 5 oucnese of Gold.. 25 Barrels of Cruede..
the great 100% profit enterpreeeeennnner, what ever profit they made, they cannot buy this much..!
Just economic killers… Dont talk about them here.. we are talking very nice topics.. Thanks mammy for nice rejections.
-Venkat
Wonderful Writing and a great topic to be discussed and pondered upon, maami.
Could there be a completely new way of thinking among Women of the Modern/kali age, borne of the realization that ‘a woman’s body is a source of sheer Power to exhibit their control over the men’?
There are different strata of women in any society, based on their willingness to use this power. Some choose not to use this power, while some have not ‘harnessed’(if I may use that word to symbolize the arduous hours spent at nurturing the physique/personality by going to parlors and using all kinds of techniques to enhance this power and bring it under their control) this power to its full potential.
I have observed in my own ‘Queen of Conservatism Chennai’, that gone are the days when girls and women wore oversized clothing to hide their bodies, when hair would be sticking to their scalps with the help of PARACHUTE COCONUT OIL, when the only makeup was gooey Eyetex and Sindoor bindi, when parlor visits were not common. The humongous Grand Canyon that was between a movie actress’s appearance and the common girl’s appearance has diminished to an alley.
Is this something forced on today’s woman? Is this something that men decide for them? I wonder…..
(Yes I had written a post on this earlier on)
I have not seen a bigger hypocrite than you maami along with all the pseud bastards commenting on this post. If you still bought tickets to Dasavatharam you are part of these things you seemingly condemn.
This post perhaps attracted more attention because it mentions the usual maami’s masala ingredients
such as Mallika Sherawat, breasts and reference to genitalia/menstruation/scat. Congratulations on reiterating your unique selling proposition!
(Lady, what gives)
maami,
Well written! great vocabulary. But there is just one more thing I would like to add here. I think even some women’s submissive nature and to a certain extent, the narrow mindedness, play a role here. If women refuse to allow men to dictate what they wear, then that should solve the problem I guess. The issue here is there are women who are supportive of such dictatorial men!! They agree that these men are right in being such hypocrites and dictating the dress code. Guess it will take some more time for the society to mature and crush male chauvinism.
(Hmm, yes )
Dear Maami – I agree with your drift and a big boo to all condescending male hypocrats. But point that come across that the Ms.Saran’s and Ms. Sawants and Ms.Sherawtas enjoy spilling what ever they have. How else do you explain a half cut choli worn to an award function with the pallu comfortably drippin below the 50% mark. Surely their dance masters are’nt ghost directing them no?
The have it- flaunt it adage seems a bit misinterprtd. Enna kodumai maami.
(I’m familiar with ‘enna kodumai saravana idu?
