You know those plastic dolls outside cloth shops, dressed up to display ready-mades and saris? These mannequins were insipid and I never glanced much at them, until the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) changed it recently.

One cut, two pieces

While most of us may pass by a mannequin without even noticing what it is wearing, the BMC believes that these display dolls are way more popular than we imagine. In fact, it is believed that men may be staring lecherously at mannequins. The dainty dolls may be provoking them to commit crimes against real live women. Hence the BMC has passed a proposal to ban the display of bikini-clad mannequins outside the shops in the city.

Is a mannequin just a dull lifeless piece or is it able to conjure up strange images in the minds of the observer? If one gets imagery from this, there is probably nothing to prevent anyone from imagining anything weird from any object in the world. There is certainly a line for decency and every culture draws that in different levels and redraws it based on the current condition. But to say that Indian men are lured by mannequins is perversion in its extreme, as it imagines non-existent perversion.

Anatomy of the ban

Everyday, on my way to The Hindu building in Chennai, I pass by a surgical store which has a mannequin outside . She is chirpy looking, but is clothed in hospital gown and holds a walker or a walking stick. Some times she is seen sitting in a wheel chair. Thanks to BMC, I am visualising breaking my leg and sitting in a hospital, helplessly looking to be wheeled around. Maybe such negative image provoking mannequins should be banned as well, while we are at it.

The ban applies to legless and headless mannequins also, so it is not the full imagery, according to BMC, that is provoking men. The men who manufacture mannequins, to be clothed in traditional saris, must also be visualizing 'bad things'. And so would the men who are responsible for re-attiring the display periodically. Why not ban mannequins altogether to nip the sickness in its bud?

Back to fundamentals

Any incident can be interpreted to further one’s cause and both progressives and fundamentalists are quite good at that. And when there are real problems to solve, genuine issues to deal with, we can trust our administrators to find some imaginary issue to divert our attention. So while we are busy wasting our time discussing pointless ordinances, the real vulgar images of our woes - no power, no water, no job, no growth, no end to the spiralling price - are not publicly exposed enough.