Unwritten rules govern women's workout attire

Female athletes chose modesty over comfort for fear of being judged

The spat at Agara Lake between Congress leader Kavitha Reddy and actor Samyukta Hegde has shown how women are shamed for what they wear.

Public parks like Lalbagh and sports spaces such as Kanteerava Stadium don’t have any dress code, but an unwritten code exists, and it is enforced by the public through staring and shaming.

“I am comfortable working out in a sports bra and I like how I look in them. No one has ever tried to shame me, but the staring makes you feel extremely uncomfortable,” says Karthika Anand, fitness blogger. A regular at the gym, she often frequents the Agara Lake Park for her yoga sessions.

“I tend to cover up whenever I do go,” she says. In college, she was wearing a sports bra and had a jacket on top, but it wasn’t zipped up. “This trainer came up to me and told me my attire would cause people to stare,” she says. Many women make the conscious choice of covering themselves up, giving comfort a go-by.

Sanjana George, OCR athlete, works out at the gym as well as in parks, and feels most comfortable in a sports bra. “I have had people, usually the older generation, coming on Instagram and saying it is shameful for a woman to be dressed like that,” she says. Mounika Amaresh, founder of Maidan Athletic Club, wonders why men are not questioned for working out shirtless or shamed for posting bodybuilding photos in shorts.

Gated societies and apartment complexes don’t have dress codes either, but young women are often scrutinised, especially if they are unmarried. Abirami Subramaniam, a PR consultant, was in a gated community when she was pursuing her master's.

“We were a group of five or six girls in the pool, swimming and laughing. After 10 minutes of staring at us from their balconies, a few aunties started screaming at us,” she shares. They were chastised for wearing swimsuits that the women deemed inappropriate. The women tenants barely used the pool and it is usually occupied by men and children.

When the college authorities came to know about the row, they restricted the students' access to the pool. “Why should one’s attire conform to social norms and not the individual’s comfort level?” she wonders.

What happened to Samyuktha?

Samyuktha Hegde and her friends were working out at a park when they were attacked by Congress spokesperson Kavitha Reddy and a group on Sept. 4. A man threatened to frame her in the ongoing drug scandal. Kavitha called her a "public stripper" for wearing sports attire. She later apologised when the row escalated.

Helplines

There are no groups of women or volunteers that take up the cause of women shamed for their attire. Blank Noise, founded by Jasmeen Patheja, is a foundation that seeks to confront harrassment on the streets. Log on to www.blanknoise.org for more information.