Free University of Brussels wants female graduates to wear low necklines because it looks good: Wait what?

Society has had an unhealthy obsession with women’s clothes, their bodies and their behaviour for time immemorial. The Egyptians wanted to represent their women with narrow waists, high shoulders. The period of Renaissance in Italy portrayed beauty in the form of zaftig women. Victorian-era England emphasised on hourglass figures for women — this meant tight corsets which would enhance the bust and crinolines which would make the derrières of women look larger visually. This obsession with maintaining a certain look for women throughout society has had implications on the quality of life for women and the quality, let’s face it, has been inferior. Pick up any story about rape, sexual assault, the survivor or victim’s clothes are discussed in great detail. Turn to any page on any lifestyle magazine, there will be reams dedicated to who showed the best cleavage, who could have shown a little more, who showed too much. Remember when Deepika Padukone apparently showed ’too much cleavage'?  Priyanka Chopra has legs , yet trolls abused her online for meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi with those very legs. Comedian Aditi Mittal recently said in an interview how she puts up very few videos of herself on YouTube because of how many people comment about her ‘cameltoe’. Add to this endless obsession about women’s bodies, a university in Belgium which emailed its students asking them to wear low-cut tops to their graduation ceremony. According to a report in CNN, the email which was sent out to 100 medical students from the Free University of Brussels said that it would be “preferable for young women to wear a low neckline because it would look better in photos.”

“From an aesthetic point of view, it would be better if the young women would wear a skirt or a dress, as well as a low neckline, and the men, a suit. Of course, ladies, this guidance isn’t mandatory” Screenshots of the email were posted to the ULB Confessions page and had evoked reactions from students.

The university posted its apologies on Facebook and Twitter — “It goes without saying that the instructions related to the clothing of young graduates are contrary to the values of the ULB and this faculty,” The Guardian quotes the apology. Of course the university apologised, but it’s just a reminder that society really needs to stop obsessing over women’s clothes, bodies and just chill.

via GIPHY Yeah, we feel the same way.