HYDERABAD: Unlike men in politics, who are not bound by traditional kurtas and often wear shirt and trousers, women almost always restrict themselves to sarees and the occasional salwar kameez. Women’s wardrobes generally change once they take the plunge into active politics. Such has been the case with Urmila Matondkar, the famous actress who recently joined Congress. Even Sonia Gandhi, the chairman of the UPA, changed the way she dressed once she entered politics.
In the male dominated political space, saree is a safe bet for politicians, feels Usha Raman, professor, university of Hyderabad.“For a woman to gain acceptance in politics, a male-dominated space, you have to downplay your womanliness or feminity. You have to appear neutral,” Raman said, adding that the norm is prevalent not just in politics, but any other profession where one has to meet a diverse range of people, for instance academics.
Historically, this was first recorded when Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister. However for Raman, Gandhi was more progressive in the way she dressed her saree. “She often used to wear sleeve-less blouses — something that is missing today. I don’t think there are any female politicians today who will do that.”
However, its not just changing attires but women have also adopted titles of “motherhood” or “sisterhood” to propagate their desexualisation or femininity.
For instance, former Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa was ‘Amma’ (mother), UP’s Mayawati is known as “behenji” (sister), West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee is ‘didi’ (sister) and Jammu and Kashmir’s ex-CM Mehbooba Mufti is ‘bhaaji’ (a Kashmiri term for elder sister).
However for Kalpana Kannabiran, a sociologist, a politician wearing a saree is not compulsion but more of a personal choice. “Most politicians wear sarees, because they wear it all the time—be it Rabri Devi or Sonia Gandhi. It’s just a question of what you want to wear formally, and the physical space you occupy,” she said.