–call for ‘holistic’ approach to the matter

By Vishani Ragobeer

A GROUP of outspoken citizens yesterday held a small picketing exercise outside the Georgetown Magistrates Court to back demands for the taking of an ‘holistic’ approach to the dress code debate. Sherlina Nageer, well-known activist and member of the band of protesters said this whole thing about dress codes is not only a nuisance, but “oppressive” as well as “repressive to women and hard on poor people.”
“Why should persons not be allowed entrance into, or service from, public entities because of how they are dressed?” she asked.
She also feels that this dress-code business has no place in the school system, as in children wearing uniformed clothing as currently obtains, and should be diminished or gotten rid of entirely.
In the Guyanese school system, uniforms are put in place to debar segregation, and to allow for all children to be presented in a same manner, despite their different social backgrounds.
However, Nageer feels that because of the demand for children to be uniformed, those whose parents cannot afford it are being denied their rights to access an education.
In short, she feels that dress codes should be removed entirely, and that citizens should have the freedom of wearing whatever they feel comfortable in, “as long as you’re not naked.”
Francis Bailey, another protester out on the streets yesterday, couldn’t agree more, as it is unfair to citizens coming especially to a public office in Georgetown from a distant location to be disallowed from receiving a service, just because of how they are dressed.
He is also of the opinion that the edict is “unlawful”, as nowhere in the Constition does it say how persons should or should not dress.
The outcry by citizens to remove dress codes is one which has indeed taken a forefront in Guyana’s public interest. Many public organizations have recently lifted stringent dress codes, and this protest sought to have more organizations diminish and maybe even remove these dress codes.