Goa Public Places to be segregated four ways, from Fully Clothed to Clothing Optional
Goa PWD Minister Sudhin Dhavlikar’s statement about banning bikinis on Goan beaches has stirred the hornet’s nest on this sensitive topic. While most people are opposed to such a move to ban bikinis, they also agree that some foreign and Indian tourists, and even locals, sometimes dress most inappropriately for the occasion or location. “Whereas a woman dressed in a bikini is perfectly ok at a beach the same outfit would not be in place in the market or in the church. “, said Tourism Secretary Ms. Perpetua D’Costa. “Of course if someone turns up with jeans and T-Shirt for a formal wedding function that too is inappropriate but those are private events and the Government has no business in deciding what is worn there, but in public places definitely the Government has to intervene.” The Goa Public Dressing Act 2014 (GPDA) is being drafted to address just this problem. Says D’Costa, “We have asked the Goa College of Art students to help us design appropriate graphic signage so that the people of all states and countries, regardless of language, can understand the signboards which will have text in English and Konkani.” Basically there will be four types of public zones. The first will be ‘Fully Clothed’ (Samko Nesson) which will apply to all religious institutions like churches, temples etc. “The Fully Clothed zone is very strict”, says D’Costa, and does not allow sleeveless tops, or shorts or mini-skirts. The attire and attitude should be one of reverence. In time to come we will expand this Fully Clothed zone to include place like the Legislative Assembly, Secretariat, Bishop’s Palace, Kala Academy Black Box, Governor’s Palace, Classical Music performances etc. “ The next zone is ‘Casual Clothed’ (Besto Nesson), which means one can wear shorts, sleeveless tops, spaghetti straps and mini-skirts - but not beach wear or underwear. Nor can men be topless or women display excessive cleavage. This zone will apply to most public spaces like markets, roads, public transportation, Government offices, sports events, press briefings, art exhibitions, film festivals etc. D’Costa paused here to explain, “Keep in mind that each of these zones is Upward Compatible. That is, nobody can stop a person wearing a tuxedo from attending a football match, which is a Casual Clothed zone, but there is no Downward Compatibility so a woman in a short skirt cannot enter a Fully Clothed zone.” >From there we move to Semi Clothed (Ordho Nesson)that includes bikinis, swimwear, toplessness for males etc - but no underwear masquerading as beach wear . This basically is for beach areas and for swimming pools, natural springs etc. “Relaxation will be made during Sao Joao, Carnival, Holi etc where certain Casual Clothed zones will temporarily be allowed Semi Clothed status.”, says D’Costa, “Again I repeat about Upward Compatibility. If a saree clothed woman wishes to wade into the water that is fully her prerogative, and the Government cannot interfere although lifeguards can advice caution.” “And lastly we have a Clothing Optional (Zai Zalear Nagdo) zone where it is left to the individual to decide if he or she wants to wear clothes or not. One beach in North Goa and two beaches in South Goa have been identified for this zone. Some European tourists feel the need to bathe and sunbathe in the nude. Why should we deny them that privilege? We just charge a steep entry fee to these zones. The tourists hopefully will pay the fee to get a degree of freedom-from-clothing and the other tourists who want to ogle, while themselves remaining Semi Clothed, will perhaps be deterred by the steep fee. These zones will be adults only, and maybe at a later stage, like offshore-casinos, not open to Goans as it might corrupt their morals.” Of course there are many issues to be resolved in the GPDA. “For example what differentiates a mini-skirt from a normal skirt. When is something a banian, which is not acceptable in a Semi Clothed zone, and when is it a tank-top - which is acceptable. What about traditional attire like the pudvem or the kashti or a lungi which sometimes can be quite revealing. A saree showing a lot of midriff also would be questionable. Also the question of how much female cleavage would have to show to differentiate between Casual and Semi Clothed? How does one define and measure butt-cleavage which is sometimes unintentional but can constitute indecent exposure ? If bra-straps are intentionally and prominently on display can that be construed as displaying one’s underwear -which is not allowed even in the Semi Clothed zone? What about these young boys who wear low drooping trousers that reveal the top of their underpants? What opacity makes an outfit see-through? Are intentionally torn jeans – indecent exposure? Why a gender difference for toplessness? Can an indecent slogan or graphic on a t-shirt cause offense?” “We have formed a GDPA committee of experts to frame the rules which includes fashion designers, hoteliers, tourism stakeholders, language experts, culture experts and nuns to decide these issues. The nuns of most Catholic schools already have in place a system where the distance of the skirt hem from the knee is measured to define a mini-skirt. We can use these measurement systems that are already in place.” “There have been requests from some quarters to include some laws in the GDPA to ban young girls from wearing those wraparound scarves that totally hide their face. The argument being that more often than not they are not protecting themselves from dust and sun. This becomes obvious when they are wearing the most revealing clothing and only keep their face covered. But then there is no rule that stops someone from hiding their identity - unless a law and order problems ensues from that.” =========