Pixies Place Forums - Barmaids Protest New Dress Code

(submitted by gekkogecko)

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BOMBAY (Reuters) - At least 10,000 barmaids crowded
into a huge park in India's financial capital, Bombay,
on Friday to protest new government rules that impose
dress rules and a code of conduct in night clubs.

Hundreds of women, many with their faces veiled,
poured out of buses and trucks and waded through slush
and rainwater to make their way to the park in the
heart of the city.

"Down with rules, down with rules, let us also live,"
the protesters shouted, as bar owners slammed the
government for what they called its "stepmotherly
treatment" of their industry.

Bombay has about 50,000 bar girls, as they are known
locally, who dance in beer bars, entertaining clients
by serving liquor and dancing to the latest Bollywood
film tunes.

The women said they were protesting rules that forbid
them to reveal bare skin and call for a 3-foot-high
wall around dance floors to keep customers from
getting too close and showering them with money.

The women, who have been the subject of an
award-winning Bollywood film, fear the rules could
transform the entire beer bar culture, leaving many of
them jobless.

"The rules are draconian. At this rate, we will run
out of business. Nobody will come to our bars," said
Manjit Singh Sethi, president of the Fight for Rights
of Bar Owners Association.

Dressed in shimmering skirts, spaghetti-strap blouses
and loads of jewelry, the young women ape the
song-and-dance movements of Bollywood movies.

Over the past few years, authorities have cracked down
on bars in response to complaints of indecent or
obscene behavior. A wave of police raids this year
forced some bars to close down.

"We are being harassed always," said one barmaid,
23-year-old Pooja Patil. "Are we criminals? Why do
they raid our bars and then take us into custody? We
are decent girls. We support our families and work
hard for our living."