Are you a girl with breasts? Do you go to Goa for a holiday? Do you have male friends? You pass for being bad girl in India.
A tongue-in-cheek poster has been widely shared on Reddit, Twitter and Facebook, after a group of five design students fromthe Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in the southern Indian city of Bangalore created it for a college project. “A Bad Girl” features 12 photographs of women wearing saris, and carrying out a “bad” habit.
The photos range from eating too little or too much, walking outside with untied hair, riding a motorbike and even pouting. The list was drawn up from the after comments and suggestions made in the recent past by some public figures in India about how female behavior is responsible for attacks on women.
Western influence is often blamed for greater liberties enjoyed by women in urban India for increasing sex crimes. After the gang rape in Delhi in 2012 explanations for rape given by some politicians and religious leaders included short skirts, racy Bollywood movies and mixed gender schools.
Many took the message of the poster to be a feminist statement, but for others this is nothing new.
One user Omar R Quraishi took it to a next level with mentioning Pakistan as well.
Students of the group, who are mixed males and females, were asked to compare images from popular culture as part of a coursework. One of the group members, Furqan Jawed, told BBC Trending, "We did not mean it to become social propaganda. It was done as part of an assignment," The examples chosen were of things men could get away with in India, but women would be judged for.