Travails of Travel

"Women take longer time to dress up than men." 

This is something that we often tell as a joke. Mostly to indicate the amount of time to put makeup, choose matching clothes, then finding shoes matching those clothes and the list goes on. And men, we dress up just like that, less than 5 minutes. Ever wondered why that is so. Why does women need so much time to figure out what to wear. 

The answer to this question came when I was discussing something completely different with my friend. Earlier today some of my female friends were telling about the experience that they had while travelling in train. They were telling how much they hated sleeping in the lower berths, even side upper where they would be constantly touched "accidentally" by fellow male passengers. They told about how men who walked through the compartment pressed their legs or tickled them while sleeping. They were telling me how they dreaded travelling in train. 

Later today, I was discussing the same thing with my friend. That is when she told me about how she had to choose our clothes appropriately while she travel. Unlike men, she can't just choose really comfortable clothes for travel. She has to think about the stares she is going to suffer through. She even told about a time when she tried to remove her belt before sleeping, and and how all the male eyes started scanning her. She has to always think about how well her tee is tucked inside her pants and that nothing is showing. She always has to worry about bending in front of someone. She has to choose her clothes in such a way that no part of a body is exposed. No wonder women takes much time to decide which clothes to wear, because men make them feel unsafe. 

It doesn't just end with clothes. They always have to be wary about the people they talk to in train. They always have to put their guard up. She was telling me that she was afraid to even respond to a friendly conversation initiated by a fellow passenger, lest his intentions get creepy after sometime, which happens more than we think. What else, if fellow passenger actually start behaving like that after she started talking with him, the rest of the passengers won't come to her aid thinking they are friends or something. 

There is no point in blaming or shaming women telling that they take time to dress. Unlike men, they have to protect themselves from a thousand creepy eyes everyday, every hour, every second. 

Patriarchy has to be destroyed for women to truly be free.