God-Fearing Women Doff Blouses

From bernama.com.my Malaysian National News Agency April 27, 2008 16:14 PM By P. Vijian SALEM (India), April 27 (Bernama) -- Paying homage to gods and goddesses comes in many forms, but the women in a rural village in southern India have an uncanny way of worshipping their goddess. They still refuse to wear blouses for fear their favourite goddess might punish them if they violate the age-old belief. It has been a century-old practice in Thottiayanur village, near Salem, about 350km from Chennai, for women of the Thotianaicken community to wrap themselves with only sarees and bare their bosoms. Only the saree's "pallu" (the throw of the saree) covers their upper body, the only reason being their fear of Goddess Bommakka, the Goddess of Earth who is the village's guardian goddess, punishing women who wear blouses. "Both females and males firmly believe that their goddess would punish them. This stigma etched in their mind cannot be wiped out until now," K. Sridevi, a social worker with the All India Democratic Women's Association, told Bernama. She said some women wear blouses without the knowledge of their families when they travel out of the village but remove the top and hide it in their bags upon their return, fearing that village elders would ostracize them. Fearing ill luck like diseases or natural calamity befalling the village, the community would excommunicate any female caught wearing blouses. Sridevi said the villagers often prohibit outsiders from entering their homes and only young girls are allowed to be clad in any normal dress until they attain puberty. "Some younger women have the desire to wear blouses now after they are influenced by television and movies but they are scared to give up their belief." Since the custom of baring their top without wearing a blouse has been deep-rooted in this community for generations, it cannot be done away in a moment," she added. So, even in the 21st century, wearing blouses remains a taboo for women in Thottiayanur village. **************************************************************************************** An interesting custom, but only a century old? I wonder - what did the Goddess do more than 100 years ago if a female villager wore a blouse? Or did the issue never come up until 100 years ago, because the women didn't wear clothes before that time? The clothing style of leaving a woman's breasts bare was quite common in the ancient Middle East and the Mediterranean - in Egypt, for instance, and on Crete; also among the Etruscans. I assume we're all familiar with photographs from those 1950's National Geographic magazines showing bare-breasted women of various African tribes (the photos the boys also giggled over); and I believe bare breasts were also the custom of female dress among the Polynesians and Hawaiians into the 18th century (before Europeans "visitors" corrupted the people). These Indian women, who modestly cover themselves with the "pallu" (the long trailing part of the saree that can be draped around and across the shoulders) are actually quite modest in comparison to other bare-breasted cultures!