The newly sworn-in Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Tirath Singh Rawat’s controversial remark about a woman wearing ripped jeans caused a nationwide stir. Since then, many have taken to social media to criticise him for being sexist.

Women have long been judged through their clothes, more often than not, thwarting their freedom to wear what they want in the name of “culture”. And more so if the piece of clothing is considered a Western import. Kangana Ranaut, for instance, recently called out people for wearing “torn American jeans and rags…representing nothing by American marketing.”

Appreciation tweet for ancient women who not only represented their individuality but their entire civilisation,cultures and nations. Today if such achievers are to be clicked they will all wear torn American jeans n rags like blouses,representing nothing but American marketing. pic.twitter.com/0k2yjUuF07

— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) March 3, 2021

Such is the extent of moral policing that in 2017, a 14-year-old girl in Iran was beaten and detained for wearing ripped jeans, reported Independent. “There were two women and two men in a huge van and they pushed us into it with the force of their beatings. Their objection was to the ripped jeans that we were wearing. There were really no other issues concerning my friends and I,” the teenager was quoted as saying by the publication.

St Xavier’s College in Mumbai also released a circular in 2016, banning students from wearing ripped jeans on campus, apart from other kinds of clothes like sleeveless blouses or shirts, shorts, or short skirts. The reason cited, however, was not of “indecency” but that the torn jeans “mocked the clothes that the poor are forced to wear,” Agnelo Menezes, the then principal, told Hindustan Times. The announcement met with a lot of resistance.

Five years hence, netizens have once again taken it upon themselves to challenge the Uttarakhand Chief Minister’s comments, with even celebs like Navya Naveli Nanda and Gul Panag reacting against it.
Amitabh Bachchan’s granddaughter took to Instagram stories to react to the comment. (Photo: Navya Naveli Nanda/Instagram)
Meanwhile, people have also been posting pictures of them wearing ripped jeans, on social media. Take a look:

#RippedJeansTwitter pic.twitter.com/zwitZiIE9k

— Gul Panag (@GulPanag) March 17, 2021

Girls with ripped jeans want to convey the message that
Ripped jeans are cool unlike ripped democracy.

— Urvish Kothari (@urvish2020) March 17, 2021

Throwback to one of the many ripped jeans I own #RippedJeansTwitter @mariaalph2988 ❤️????❤️ pic.twitter.com/OG54h3yN03

— Jinnie (@jinniegeorge11) March 17, 2021

Hello @TIRATHSRAWAT How you doing?#RippedJeansTwitter pic.twitter.com/WGhK9fGQQz

— Greeshma Shukla???????? (@GreeshmaShukla) March 17, 2021