By Njoki Karuoya
When Education minister Mutula Kilonzo made what he supposed were witty remarks at a school function amid cheers from, I’m guessing, the female students who were the target of his ‘jokes’, he must not have anticipated wrath from Kenyans.
For the past week, jokes, reprimands and proclamations have been made in equal measure from those who were shocked or pleased by his statements. And now he’s had it and he’s put out an ultimatum on all who dare ‘misquote’ him again. But how do you stop people from speaking out and even continue to ‘misquote’ him?
Other than the jokers, let’s try and understand why people so ‘misunderstood’ his ‘good intentions’ where he asked for a review of girls’ school uniforms.
What goes around
For a start, he likened their current attire to that of nuns, which many people interpreted to mean that the women of God wear drab and dreary outfits.
Not surprisingly, the Church took offence.
There was laughter, of course, because people tend to associate nuns with robes that cover almost everything from the head to the feet.
The habits on the head cover their hair, while the robes cover everything from neck to ankle, and there are those who add stockings to the mix to ensure not a sliver of flesh, save for the face, is exposed to the public eye.
In movies that taunt the nuns and their fashion sense, actresses have ‘sexed them up’ with high heels, sexy stockings and make-up.
Yet, there are nuns whose uniforms are nice and trendy. And it was in bad taste to draw nuns, who are religious figures, into the mix.
Wise men said; ‘What goes around, comes around’.
