Women all around the world were celebrated for the past week in wake of International Women’s Day. The theme given by the UN for this year was “Gender Equality today for a Sustainable Tomorrow” and a trend encompassed the world with the tagline “breaking the bias”. India also participated in this trend and people across platforms shared their stories on how they broke biases in their personal lives.
The trend in itself was one of the better ones, in my opinion. So many women shared their stories and set examples for the younger generation.
And I was all for this trend until I realized in a discussion with some of my peers that Psychologists in India have certain rules to follow when it comes to dressing up for their job.
If you are a mental health practitioner, you know, and if you are someone who is not from this field, well, now you also know.
‘But why is this questionable?’, one might ask. There are so many professions where you have to follow a certain dress code. And that’s absolutely true!
Yet the reasons for following this dress code don’t feel right. To give you some context, women psychologists in India are told to wear:
- ethnic/Indian formals where your skin must not be showing
- It is preferred that you wear Kurtis instead of a saree with at least half sleeves or ¾ sleeves if not full sleeves.
- You should not ideally wear makeup also.
- Colored hair is also not encouraged, especially on the vibrant spectrum.
The reason behind this is that you as an individual should not be ‘distracting’ for the client. (I am not sure of the male Psychologists and if they have to follow any norms, so I’ll let them share their perspective and not comment on it)
So now you have context, but the question is still unanswered, why is it problematic, many have to follow these guidelines! In my opinion, psychology as a field is more open-minded towards individuals and their needs. In therapy, we Psychologists encourage our clients to create boundaries, work on self and support them to express their individuality. In a simplistic view, it becomes one of the important tenets of creating balance.
And yet, the community itself is battling with old-time norms where Psychologists themselves are being boxed as well as restricted from expressing their individuality.
Thus, the question remains, why as a community are we so afraid of individuals being their unique selves? Does expressing yourself reduce your skills or knowledge required for the job role/profession you are seeking?
The mindset needs to change, we have to educate people around us that dressing up for a woman should not be distracting, being emotional for a man is not a sign of weakness or being queer does not mean you’re incapable. Only when we raise awareness and educate our population, can we strive towards a more sustainable future ahead.
However, I see so many therapists from such diversity carrying a unique identity to their therapeutic space for their clients. When there is diversity, there is a better chance for clients to find the right fit of a therapist who provides them with proper assistance and space for growth.