SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — This International Women’s Day, women around the world celebrated womanhood by sporting Bindi. Women from different corners of the world such as India, USA, Canada, Fiji, Italy, New Zealand, Australia and beyond united to join this campaign regardless of their cultural background and ethnicity.
There were hindus, muslims, christians, jews, everyone, who came together to celebrate the common thread of being a woman.
Bindi is a small, ornamental dot applied to the forehead. The word Bindi is derived from Sanskrit word “Bindu”, which means the point around which the creation of the universe begins. Women have always been the central anchor holding the families together. A woman signifies the strength, the beauty, the elegance and the power. The bindi represents all of these qualities perfectly.
“That is why it made so much sense to celebrate the women’s day wearing Bindi.” Says Sailee Raje, founder and CEO of EthnicThread app who first came up with this idea. “Bindis are Bold and Beautiful. They are very easy to apply or draw on your body. It’s an incredibly simple and fun way for women to sport it on the women’s day and unitedly celebrate the pride of being a woman.”
Although the roots of Bindi traditions are in ancient India, Ethnic Thread didn’t let this event be a religious affair. At the same time, they believe that celebrating women’s day this way will help spread awareness and acceptance of south asian culture in different parts of the world.
Lately there have been a lot of voices about cultural appropriation mostly around westerners wearing bindis as fashion. EthnicThread believes that by starting a trend to wear Bindis respectfully on women’s day to celebrate womanhood will help spread the grandeur and significance of Bindi in the global community leading it to be a symbol of women’s dignity.
EthnicThread is an app, headquartered in the U.S, which focuses on ethnic fashion and talent for women around the world. Users can sell, buy or rent their pre-loved couture, thus encouraging thoughtful fashion and community recycling. Users can also register their talents like, henna, tailoring, hair, skin, art, design, modeling and blogging on the app, and seek opportunities within the trusted community.
