Comments on: USJP Students’ Union: Harassment and Gender Discrimination over clothing

By: Rishard

Rishard — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 20:26:53 +0000

It is absurd.The way they carry out ragging. Each batch they male or female they undress them in front of at least few others. The damage to the university property caused by them deserve not raw eggs but whipping in public.
This type of barbaric act should be stopped at any cost!

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 03:08:18 +0000

Harassment of female managers in the workplace has been a problem within the Jackson MS VAMC intensified since the reign of the current AFGE President’s regime.
what happens when the guardians of employee rights themselves indulge in unprofessional and disgusting behavior? “This seems to be the case in Jackson MS. One might say the VAMC allows
such incidents to take place. Black women managers are intimidated into silence to avoid reprisals and abuse by this African American Male Muslim union President. Don’t take my word evoke the FOIA and sequester the emails of this prolific bully.

Black Women manager’s livelihood is in danger in Mississippi not at the hand of the Klan

But in the fists of a very disturbed Black Man

By: SD

SD — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 17:36:07 +0000

In reply to Grasshopper.

Grasshopper,

Nicely put. It appears that it’s all about being a Borg Collective – everyone thinking alike and forcing their ideas of “perfection” on others. IMHO, this indicates a lack of moral awakening in realizing that mere consensus amongst a majority of people does not mean that others too must agree and conform to that consensus. Unfortunately, this is the popular (mis)conception of democracy in Sri Lanka. It’s this misconception that leads to callous disregard for others’ rights, be it at a university level or at an ethnic level. Clearly, public consciousness must change with regard to how collective agreement is reached – based on fairness for all, not the convenience/wishes of a group. It is only with this kind of consciousness raising that we can hope to do away with those forcing their collective will on others – be it about university student dress codes, “Sri Lanka belonging to the Sinhalese” or “The North & East belonging to Tamil Eelam”.

By: chandula kumbukage

chandula kumbukage — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 12:36:33 +0000

Dear Kavitha,
Thank you for sharing your views and sharing the article on this forum. It is encouraging to see women excelling in leadership in certain organizations as mentioned in the article.

By: Kavita

Kavita — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 17:40:44 +0000

Chandula it is true that women are still harassed and discriminated against in various fields, particularly in South Asia. We are generally not given the same rights as our male counterparts. However, in organisations like HCLT, under CEO Vineet Nayar, changes are being seen and felt. We are encouraged and motivated to give 100% to every task by our male counterparts.

I have come across an article by Vineet Nayar that talks about women leadership. The link is as follows:
http://www.vineetnayar.com/women-in-leadership-neelam-manwani/

By: pravz

pravz — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:05:17 +0000

don’t forget guys also don’t wear three quarters or baggy shorts etc..so i dont know how you say it’s only for females…i agree this is an absurd law..but it applies to both guys and girls.so you are totally wrong with your article.poor

By: Chandula Kumbukage

Chandula Kumbukage — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 03:34:16 +0000

Dear Luvi,

There is nothing wrong with students coming from urban backgrounds trying to appear as a different class, if the students from rural upbringing can also appear as a different social class. If the urban students can respect the rural students for the way they speak, dress and behave, it should be same towards the urban students too.

By: Luvi

Luvi — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 07:57:47 +0000

Dragon lady/Chandula.

well i think urban crowd in local uni. try to appear as a different social class. if others wear full length pants then this ppl would wear 3/4s or vis-versa. i guess this would continue till one segment look like hippies or tribal ppl, because of their need for differentiation.
Other thing here in France wearing Burk-ha in public is not permitted! what do u guys think about it?

By: Grasshopper

Grasshopper — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 01:34:18 +0000

I find the concept of trying to protect one’s culture very naive and people who are adamant about trying to build high walls and not allow anything in tend to fail miserably over time. Culture, by definition is a dynamic thing and it evolves with time either for better, worse or mere change. Desperate attempts to make a culture static goes against the grain and is bound to fail. Every individual has to have the right to choose whatever he or she wants to do as long as it does not harm someone else.

How is it wrong to wear three-quarter pants? What right does a Student Union or a group of Uni students have, to impose dress codes on their fellow students even if it is for a short time? Subculture within each University is also a dynamic system and every student has to have the right to partake in it or not. If one does not like Western Culture, don’t do anything Western in nature; simple as that. But what right have you got to stop someone else doing it simply because you do not like it?

By: shimantha

shimantha — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:02:50 +0000

I’m not going to get interfered with every point in the article.But i should mention that this so called dress code is something which is valid only to a certain period of time ( The rag season ).This is not a permanent ban.Not only girls but even boys have to follow a code.They are asked to wear GENTA and not to wear normal denims and stuff.My girl friend is an undergrat of kelaniya uni – management fac- they were also asked to wear the dress code for a certain period and now,as the rag season is over they enjoy the freedom of wearing what they prefer.Such “dress codes” can be seen in many faculties and trying to picture it as a JVP/ARTS/GODE phenomenon is factually incorrect and misleading.I’m from the “prestigious” anti-JVP Law faculty of colombo university,and as boys we had to follow a dress code – at least a month.I may have disagreements with the rule which orders a dress code but of course i have to add no one can point that out as “gender discrimination”because the same rule applies on male students during the rag season.The article is therefore is based on incorrect facts,which is often caused as a result of not having contacts with the “common” students in an university.