An Open Letter To The Politician Calling Out Women For Ripped Jeans

Misogyny at its finest, ladies and gentlemen.

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If you happened to miss the #RippedJeansTwitter thing happening on social media right now, all you need to know is that a politician from a northern state in India has expressed to the world his belief that women wearing ripped jeans are apparently setting "a bad example for society".

Yeah.... can't make this stuff up.

Now, if you search the aforementioned hashtag on Twitter, you'll find women from all over the world, India, in particular, virtually clapping back at the Indian state of Uttarakhand's Chief Minister, Tirath Singh Rawat for his comments on the matter. He reportedly made such claims that women who are seen wearing ripped jeans basically represent a societal breakdown.

Rawat essentially made a connection between ripped jeans and an unstable home environment, basically referring to a home in which a woman chooses to wear distressed denim as an unsuitable situation for children to be brought up in.

Obviously, the culture in India is completely different from that in Western civilization. But, ripped jeans correlating to an unstable home life for a child? Come on, now. Rawat essentially eluded to the idea of a modern home life leading children down the road to things like substance abuse. Can't lie, not really seeing the connection there.

While I'm not familiar with the culture and precedencies in India regarding women's fashion, I can't wrap my brain around how ripped denim ANYTHING can be construed as inappropriate or an indication of breakdown within the family home. Perhaps, clothes aren't just seen as fashion in that culture, however I fail to see how all of these educated Indian women disputing these claims by posting pictures in their ripped jeans are setting their children/families up for failure in any way.

Not that anyone over there cares about my opinion, but I felt it necessary to stand in solidarity with the women of India who feel victimized by these claims. After all, ripped jeans and a t-shirt are basically the main articles of clothing in the young mom starter pack here in America. They're everyday fashion staples.

Let's normalize NOT judging people, particularly women, for what they wear, shall we?

Sources: NDTV.com, Twitter