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Initially it was on a men’s side to be so cautious on whom to date least he gets the wrong partner. This has been happening over decades. A man would always struggle to seduce the most beautiful woman in the village so that his parents don’t dismiss his wife. Additionally, he wanted respect among his age mates. However things are changing and now the woman is now shouldered the burden of hooking up with handsome looking men like James Bond.
On interviewing them I was surprised by their shocking revelations. The pressure stems from their mothers. According to Jane, 23 (not her real name) was shocked when her mother dismissed her boyfriend for being ‘ugly’. “I was surprised that my mother dismissed my boyfriend because he was not handsome” says Jane. She further argues that mothers despite their old age are now slowly being brainwashed by the popular culture and ideal image show casted in magazines, newspapers, social media and Television.
The question is whether looks in men matters to women. Although some women will want me jailed for life for saying this but let the truth trend. For instance let a well-groomed and handsome looking man enter the room. You will notice how women will be unsettled each one stealing glances and trying to win the attention of the man.
According to Tracy, a hair dresser in Kisii town she had to drop the idea of marriage after her mother severally accused her of dating ‘not-so-handsome men’.
“My mother has never been content with the men I have been dating because of their physical looks, I had to drop the idea of marriage” says remorseful Tracy. She no longer introduces her lovers to her choosy mother.
The trend is all over from villages to cities and this begs the question why are women now more concerned with looks? According to a psychologist and lecturer at Kisii University, this is as a result of what they encounter on daily basis in the mainstream media. “Their mind is filled with what is propagated on Television, newspapers, radio, magazines and social media. This compels them to consider the ideal as per what their encounter currently” he explained.
He further adds that this is part of slavery to western cultures that have no meaning in local cultures.
