On May 8, 2007, a Polish member of parliament tabled a bill to crack down on "sexual temptations", including the wearing of miniskirts, generous necklines, see-through blouses and insistent make-up.
Who is this MP?
Artur Zawiszaborn in 1969 in Lublin, was elected deputy to the Sejm for the 4th district in 2001.e a member of the Kaczynski brothers' ruling Law and Justice party. It was he who tabled this text with a view to driving prostitution out of the main urban thoroughfares, reports the magazine "Newsweek Polska", a social and political weekly with a liberal profile.
The MP would like to see young women dressed "decently" and has already discussed the matter with the Minister of Justice. Artur Zawisza recognizes that the new law, if adopted, could lead to some confusion. "It could happen that a pretty young woman is arrested on her way home from a nightclub", he said, adding that he trusted police officers' foresight to distinguish "respectable women from promiscuous ones".
The history of the miniskirt
Created in 1960 by Mary Quant, an English stylist, it was at the origin of a veritable sexual, stylistic and commercial revolution.
"The message is: 'I'm very sexy, I love sex and I'm provocative, but you'll have to put your money where your mouth is to be able to be with me'. Now it's up to the woman." Mary Quant
The miniskirt became a symbol of women's liberation in the 1960s, with women expressing a desire to liberate their sexuality through the language of dress. A new generation of women saw the miniskirt as alienating, and questioned the male gaze.
Sources :La Libre Belgique, Radiofrance
