Tuesday, March 21, 2006

This is how you show some respect

Now this is how a government deals properly with women, if it wants to treat them with respect.

To me, the act - of letting strippers take meal breaks and a weekly day off - is a strong indicator that this country, or at least the majority of her people, respect the women who may choose to strip for a living.

In the process, it sends out a signal that everybody has the right to choose their own livelihoods, without facing moral umbrage from those who do not wish to make their livelihoods in the same way. It also helps organise a sector, however small the numbers of workers involved, letting them know that their rights are worth protecting, and that they are valuable as workers and citizens.

Compare and contrast this with our own Maharashtra government's decision to ban dancing bars altogether, thereby depriving thousands of women of their livelihood. Such blatant disregard... such an impoverished sense of right and wrong.

2 comments:

One in the crowd said...

After the ban on dance bars, I remember a Mid Day correspondent posing as a customer and approaching the dancers...surprisingly, not one girl consented to sleep with him.

Annie Zaidi said...

blah blah blogger: I don't blame the bar-girls. having worked at mid-day, I sort of shared their sentiments. :p

Tweets by @anniezaidi