Dear Editor,

I have just returned from a wasted journey to the GPO building where, as a very busy, yet conscientious and law-abiding citizen, I had hoped to deal with a matter pertaining to Internal Revenue.

On arriving at the building I was informed by the security personnel that I could not enter because my clothing did not conform with the dress code in force. I was wearing a sleeveless top.

The rules pertaining to dress were displayed on a large notice board, and I could read for myself that ladies would not be allowed to enter if they were wearing strap tops, and men would be refused entry if they were wearing armless tops. Clearly I was not breaking any rule, and yet I was most vociferously denied access to the building.

The incident caused me to remember a similar situation that occurred a few months ago. I was going into the NCERD building to give a seminar to secondary school teachers when I met a woman coming away from the gate – almost in tears. She had come with her daughter, who had won a prize in an inter-schools competition and was to be presented with a trophy.

The mother was very neatly dressed (as I was today) in long slacks and an armless top, and she had been denied entry. There, too, I checked the board with the rules, and – just as at GPO Building – the guidelines were that women wearing strap tops should not be admitted. In that instance I brought the misapplication of rules to the attention of the Director, but the saddened mother had already left.

If, in its infinite wisdom, the Government of Guyana has arrogated to itself the authority to tell citizens how to dress, then at least those whose job it is to enforce the rules should be trained to enforce them correctly.

There is a difference, as any woman will tell you, between an armless top and a strap top.

More important still is that if the authorities have determined that something needs to be done to check the moral landslide that is evidently taking place, then they should understand that there are moral issues that are of far greater consequence than a couple of inches of fabric more or less on a woman’s upper arms.

Yours faithfully,
Joyce Jonas

Editor’s note

We are sending a copy of this letter to the Postmaster General, Ms Mayglen Adams, for any comments she might wish to make.