SOCIETY OR RELIGION  SHOULD NOT DETERMINE DRESS CODE.

There are many young women out there who dress to impress the society that they live in.

Many societal expectations be it

1. The environment that one lives in,

2. The religion that one believes in or

3. The clothes that parents choose for them.

Will determine on how girls and women will dress.

Kenya as a country we are faced with the above challenges and this makes us captives.

Rape cases.

If a man is a pervert or a rapist.  Dressing in a long skirt and a top that fully covers arms or a tight, short micro-mini skirt and a bra will not make any difference to him. If dressing decently makes a woman earn respect from men, why do we hear of rape cases everyday and the victims are young school going children. They are always decently dressed. Unless anyone wants to question the decency of the uniforms they wear.

College/ University strikes

Why do Kenyatta University students oppose the dress code that their VC has for them in mind? Here is why;

In many colleges or universities all over the world, strikes and riots are not a new thing, they happen any time the students feel they want to “communicate” with the management of these universities or colleges. Once when I was in college, there were rumours of a strike happening the following day. No student wants to carry her or his luggage all over waiting for the strike to happen. So you only carry the essentials to class. Which include some money and national identification card. One friend of mine believed in a religion that did not permit her or any woman to wear trousers. Looking in her wardrobe, it was full of very long skirts and dresses and none had pockets. I know someone reading this text might be thinking, “wrong, some skirts and dresses have pockets”. Let’s all face it, the jeans pockets are tighter and more secure. And then there was a strike, policemen throwing tear gas at students and you have to run for your life. I remember vividly that I convinced my friend to wear a trouser and that helped her greatly even when we had to climb walls and get away from the policemen. To date she still wears trousers and she’s never sorry that she made that decision. She still believes in the religion she used to but only now she has a choice of whether to wear a trouser or not.

Friendship.

For some people the way someone dresses will determine whether you agree to be their friend or not. Whether you choose to respect them or envy them that they had the courage to wear what they have on is your own choice. In my opinion, everyone needs to appreciate diversity and know that if one dresses “skimpily” for some people they might think that she is “overly dressed”. Why then do we want to judge other people on what they wear. I have many friends and some wear mini or micro-mini skirts and some wear very long skirts and I love them all. True friendship and respect for other people surpasses the dressing.

Parental/ Guardians choice of our dressing

I totally understand that when you are a young girl, it is upon your mother or guardian to decide for you what you are going to wear. Therefore, then your choice is limited. In my times, we used to have the same dress type for me and my sisters. Same material and same design and that was not an issue because then we could not question our mother why she did that. Perhaps it was cheaper for her to buy one material and have it tailor made for all our dresses. Who cares, I had some clothing and am grateful for that. Later in life, I realized that I was more comfortable in jeans and T-Shirt and I wear that to date. My sister on the other hand prefers skirts and blouses. For all girls and women it’s important to wear what you feel comfortable in.

SUMMARY

Young girls and women, do not make yourself a captive today, tomorrow or in the future. Wear what you feel comfortable and always walk with your head high. You are special and deserve to be happy.

In the end, we all have one lives and what mark we leave in this earth is not determined by what we wear but what we do to make a difference in the society we live in.