The naked truth about dressing on campuses
SIR: I write in response to some essayists in Nigerian dailies, who are piqued by the tentative efforts by authorities of some higher institutions to curb the groundswell of indecent dressing on campuses. The logic of the thrust of these essays is so askew that I am compelled to correct some of the presumptions of the writers.
The writers� aims, as they put them are two fold, viz: "To expose the shallowness and unsustainability of the association between sartorial choice and morality; and second, to show how the very announcement constitutes a violation of the right of university undergraduates (both male and female) to dress in a style of their choosing."
The writers miss the point by proposing that what you wear (particularly female students) has no bearing on who you are. Nothing can be farther form the truth. If the writers would pause and think for a moment, they would know that what you wear says a lot about you. This is why most respectable corporate organisations have dress codes. This is why the law profession has a dress code. Of course your dressing says a lot about you, your organisation and what you stand for. Business suits and rich traditional attires are the characteristic sartorial hallmarks of noble men and women in the society. These are people who can be trusted with affairs of the society, and whose opinions on public issue are respected.
In many Nigerian cultures, the dressing code for a married lady is different from that of a maiden. That of a married lady is usually, more elaborate, more expensive, therefore, it connotes sobriety. The military has its dress code and there are different types of dressings for different occasions. The military uniform and the occasion it is worn tell a lot about the person and his function. If the soldier is in fatigue attire, then he is combat ready. If he is in ceremonial outfit then he is out for some military ceremony or another. One cannot exhaust the instances where your dressing reveals who, and what you are about.
The writers' claim that female students "in Western universities enjoy a freedom of dressing, and there is no observable negative effect on their academic performance" is a fallacy of hasty generalisation. The esteemed writers fail to provide substantial and credible evidence to back up their claims.
Although, it is true that no argument in favour of rape can justify it, the writers' allusion to the idea of rape being a consequence of sexual repression translates to reducing Man to the level of psychology. Man has freewill and this is the essence of man. Therefore the notion of rape being a product of psychic forces derails from the cause of rape. The rapist is not determined by any psychological factor. He (or she as the case may be) decides of his own freewill to rape.
The writers ask a seemingly rhetorical question: "Isn't the freedom to choose your mode of dressing part of the freedom of expression" However, what the writers fail to point out is that the freedom of expression in a democratic society can be limited by law in case of measures for protecting public morality and the rights and freedoms of others. These essays are unveiled attempts at promoting provocative and indecent dressing by female students on campuses.
The proponents of these write-ups fail to explain why these ladies dress the way they do. What are the real motives for wearing tight jeans, form-fitting dresses and mini-skits ... low cut blouses, and tight tops, revealing cleavages What signals are they sending to men The truth is that such dresses initially, emanated from the need by women of loose morals to trigger off sexual thoughts in men. These women know that it does not take much visual stimulus for men to get sexually aroused. The sight of even a slightly exposed cleavage or erogenous zone of a female can instantly cause sexual thoughts in a man. Therefore, any self-respecting lady who would not want herself to be seen as a sex object would ordinarily not dress in sexy fashions.
Let the authorities of UNILAG, the University of Ibadan, the French Village and other higher institutions in Nigeria intensify the fight against improper dressing. The idea of a university education is to produce men and women of moral rectitude and learning. These two values are inseparable in any person that lays claim to university education. This is why those universities should not relent in the course they are about to follow in reaction to the naked truth about (un) dressing on our campuses.
Maduabuchi Agbo,
Lagos
