Do they have access to sunshine and Vitamin D?
All of these women whose skin the sun doesn’t see?
50% of the population but do they get half the space?
Do they have places they can exercise the right
to feel the breeze and the sun on their face?
A link from Web MD on Vitamin D
Women comprise roughly 50% of the population and yet in many places, don’t have access to half the space. In places where they do, this access can at times be accompanied by rules and a need for women to be careful and take precautions in public, so as to avoid risks to their safety.
Do rules on dress deprive people, and women in particular, of the right to get vitamin d from sunshine? And where this does, is there a way to create private spaces within the community and allow women some freedom of dress within the home in order that they can live in accordance with their customs and traditions, and still have access to the sun on their skin?
Would discussions on access to Vitamin D have any impact of the way communities interpret rules on dress code for women? Would this help communities make accommodations that give women access to the sunshine vitamin in private spaces, where their rules don’t allow this in public spaces?
I see accommodations all the time. And sometimes this brings gradual change. One example of this is women here who used to wear the ghunghat in public. It’s now worn only when elders are around and is otherwise put aside.
Is it possible to work with the rules of the societies we live in, and yet be moderate enough, so that everyone, irrespective of gender or dress code, has spaces where they can enjoy the right to sunshine? What are your thoughts?
This post is important to me, so please share it and tell me what you think in the comments. I’d like to keep this discussion free of religion and politics and think we can all find common ground amid differences, if we stay away from these topics.
the relaxed housekeeper 
Interesting in that I don’t see that in the US. By the same token there are some places like exercise centers that have set aside hours that are women only times. Allowing those women who are not comfortable or have some moral/ethical strictures can wear comfortable clothing and exercise without impediment. The issue of Vit D is one I struggle with since it is cold and cloudy here for an extended part of the year. To that end I have to take a vitamin in the winter. Now that its summer I’m able to soak up the sun easily. Since having the arms bare allows as much absorption as having the face exposed is it possible for a compromise?
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Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, there are places where clothing restricts access to vitamin, and places where it doesn’t. And where weather and other conditions do.
Yes, women’s only timings are one way that works.
I suppose Asia is very different from the US and other western countries in that respect. Here in India there are so many different communities that we see many interpretations of what is considered acceptable. And, because of diversity, so many different ways of bringing change.
There are communities and families where bare arms and legs might not be an acceptable option, and some where it might.
The saree is a traditional dress here, but it often keeps some part of the waist bare, and this is acceptable.
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