In India, wearing jeans can be liberating – or deadly – for women
- A teenager was recently killed for praying in a pair of jeans, a Western garment that some conservative communities deem indecent
- Indian girls and women are often shamed for attracting attention by wearing foreign attire in a country with a deeply patriarchal and misogynist culture
Shabana Asthana, 25, was in university when she bought her first pair of jeans, but the Indian student could not wear it until she went to her college hostel.
When she finally put it on, matching it with a shawl and a loose collarless shirt known as a kurti, she felt liberated.
“In my village, jeans are viewed as Western garments that are not becoming of girls,” said Asthana, who lives in a small village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The views of Asthana’s village elders are not isolated, with many Indian girls and women often shamed for attracting attention by wearing foreign attire in a country with a deeply patriarchal and misogynist culture.
Last month, a teenage girl was killed by her male relatives for wearing jeans during a prayer session.