Why do doubts about men linger?

A Karnataka High Court judge already observed last November that a proliferation of lingerie advertisements on giant hoardings cause highway accidents as drivers get “distracted” by them and crash into trucks. And Goa allows bikini-cladwomen to be shownonly in official tourism promotion material abroad, lest they convey the “wrong” picture to local audiences.

Men, in fact, should take umbrage that the move by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ban lingerie-clad mannequins in store windows obviously aims to strengthen this general scepticism of the ability of members of their sex to restrain themselves when confronted with scantily-clad women,plastic or otherwise. Women are clearly made of sterner stuff, as advertisements — and possibly mannequins — displaying male innerwear are not seen as subversive or offensive andworthy of banningin thepublic interest.

Presumably, India’s ancient stone carvings of similarly (un)clad women have passed their “lure-by” date and need not be targeted for Bamiyan Buddha-type solutions. Of course, if the BMC’s Shiv Sena and BJP corporators take a cue from Saudi and Iranian governments and also seek to proscribe male staff in lingerie stores, some of their traditional opponentsmaybe put in a bind too.