Flashback: ‘Paged’ women wore maternity dresses, not tights

This week, I saw a comment from a woman legislator who was complaining about nudity on the Friday paper. I asked myself whether the lady is aware that one of the leading British newspapers has for years been having pin-up photos on its page three.

I also tend to think that papers are in competition with social media, and in social media, that is what sells. Though it doesn’t justify anything, but what kept me interested was a question by a lady who asked if we should normalise abnormalities. Her argument was that such pictures should only be published by the gutter press, not family newspapers and TVs.

She wondered when the rain started beating us. The answer is simple, most modern Kenyan parents (these are the ones who didn’t know the late Ambrose Adongo as the secretary general of KNUT) are hypocrites. They are busy talking about nudity on TV and papers, yet they are the first to come out shouting the ‘my dress, my choice’ mantra.

I wonder if they think their children don’t see the skimpily dressed women whenever they take them out on weekends? Some of the skimpily dressed people happen to be their friends, so the children take this as a sign of approval. To make matters worse, some of the parents dress their daughters and sons quite shamelessly.

In our days, l never saw my sisters, even once, dressed in tight trousers in front of my father and uncles. What happened to the handy piece of cloth that used to be referred to as leso? As I grew up, I knew its main use was for the ladies to cover themselves when in the presence of elders and other persons worthy of respect.

The fact that these days lesos are used to make dresses and linings for men’s suits is proof enough that our morality has gone to the dogs. I remember one time we had a family meeting and a friend who had just married one of these young girls, was thoroughly embarrassed, when the wife’s thong showed every time she bent to sit down.

In our days, a pregnant woman used to put on a maternity dress or a dungaree. These days, I see pregnant women with tight fitting dresses or tight trousers, which I suspect must have taken them the better part of an hour to put on.

Some, even without shame, are busy hanging around clubs in that condition. Ladies should know that they are blessed to be able to bring life to earth so they should respect themselves. They should borrow a leaf from my favourite restaurant, Java, where pregnant waiters are given a maternity uniform, which makes them comfortable. This also applies to those men who don’t want to dress their age.

If you have a bulging tummy, tight T-shirts are a definite NO. If you want to put on a tight T-shirt, go to the gym and get a menacing look like my friend Ford Rudolf II. This also applies to men who sag their trousers. My son tried to sag his trousers once. But after the fight and tongue lashing he got, he now knows that belts are for putting trousers in place.

So, ladies should not complain about nudity yet they support it on the streets. Innerwear should be just that, inner wear! You should not go exposing your bras, thongs and panty lines. Ladies should train and dress their kids properly and respectably. Also, people should dress according to their body shapes and age. If you have love handles, kindly don’t put on a tight T-shirt or tumbo-cut. Leave that to young college chaps.

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@AineaOjiambo