It's NOT my clothing, it's YOUR eyes

Bangladeshi women and trans people, and even men face different kinds of harassment in the public realm. This has sadly become a very common thing in Bangladesh, especially due to the kinds of clothes they wear. The skills, energy and capacity to cope with these obvious male gazes and judgmental looks are something Bangladeshi women have had to develop, some cope, many do not! The situation is everywhere, from the villages, to small towns to the big city, and often erupts in nasty judgements that are annoying yet perceived to be quite normal. At times, these have ended in violence against women and trans people, with quite limited access to justice.  

Paraa's sustainable ethical fashion platform: Chol has started this campaign to address the issue, set in an alternative reality, where women and trans people can travel, commute freely and just be themselves in public. It’s often a common thing for women to think twice about their attire before stepping out into the public realm. Still many are brave enough to be themselves no matter what. But this simple thing should not be a struggle. 

We will be posting more videos on this campaign to reflect how people deal with this issue. We want to break the practice of judgemental gazing and motivate people to take this matter more seriously and start changing from within.

Credits: 

Concept: Paraa

Questions, Camera and Direction: Tarannum Nibir

Models: Mo Hla Yee, Tasnuva Anan, Joya Sikder, Tahsin Tamanna Nodee, Diana Monica, Samrita Chanda, Safia Akhter