Poster urging women to dress modestly in Pune gets savage response: ‘Your mind...’

When a poster appeared in Pune asking women to dress modestly, a fed-up women’s group had a savage response ready.

When self-appointed guardians of morality put up a poster in Pune asking women to dress in a manner that does not attract attention, a fed-up women’s group had a savage response ready. Journalist Yogesh Sadhwani shared a photograph of the poster and the response it received on the social media platform X, where his post is going steadily viral.

A poster, written in Marathi, urges women to dress modestly. (X/@yogeshsadhwani)

The photograph shows two posters stuck to a wall. The first poster features the photograph of an elderly woman in a saree, along with an appeal: “Ladies, Wear clothes in such a way that nobody looks at you with bad eyes. Yours, Mast Group.”

The “Mast Group” (which roughly translates to Cool Group) was therefore asking women to dress modestly to avoid attracting attention.

The unsolicited piece of advice did not go unnoticed. A women’s group stuck another poster in response, asking men to keep their thoughts pure so their eyes do not wander.

“Men, Keep your mind so strong that your mind does not wander no matter what clothes others are wearing,” read the response from “Trasth Group” (which roughly translates to “Fed-up group”).

Many people in the comments section praised the wit on display in the exchange, while others shared their own stories of being subjected to moral policing.

“Once the senior citizen gang of my society stopped me while I was doing my evening walk and one of the comparatively less older uncles told me to not wear shorts because we have so many seniors here around here in the evening. And I answered him that you are also wearing shorts right now,” recalled X user Sneha Sharma.

“Reply poster should have been bigger.......Also dressing appropriately is as important for men as it is for women. This is by no means sexist but a simple individual / societal etiquette which has become more than necessary,” another X user opined.