Girl code: Mini or maxi dress, does it really matter?

This topic starts never-ending debates but I will not shy away from touching on it today. We have seen many women being judged by what they are wearing. Some have even been called names.

I will not venture into whether they deserve the judgment or not but I will ask the big question. Does a woman’s dress code really matter?

Society has a way of judging women so harshly that women have resorted to pleasing different sides just to be at peace. The same woman you see today rocking a fitting little black dress in the office will be the same one you meet elsewhere tomorrow with a long, sweeping dress.

The same woman swimming in a body suit in one place today is the same one you will see tomorrow comfortably rocking a two-piece bikini elsewhere.

The dress code police have turned women into human beings with two sides. Each side is there to please its cheer leaders.

Most women now associate long, flowing dresses with a visit to the in-laws. I have even seen some women being bashed because they travelled to their in-laws in trousers or off-shoulder dresses.

This notion has gone all the way to wedding gowns. Brides-to-be are having a hard time finding their dream gowns because they are pressed to try to please everyone around them. If you take a survey, you will find that many married women ended up walking down the aisle in gowns they would never have imagined themselves wearing.

Sometimes I wish society could just allow women to live their dream lives as long as they aren’t stepping on anyone’s toes. Coming from an African setting, I know there is some level of ‘decency’ that we may want to accompany our dressing. I am pretty sure a woman with morals will not go beyond the ‘decency’ you and I have in mind. I mean, like travelling to your in-laws in a pair of trousers. Seriously, this should not be listed down as indecent dressing for women, especially in this century.

In my home, you cannot dare swing your hips in a dress, whether long or short. Mosquitoes will feast on your poor legs!

By the way, the mosquitoes in my village do not wait to bite when the sun goes down, they bite even when it is high up at 90 degrees. You will not only come back to the city with malaria, your previously smooth skin will be dotted with hills and valleys -- all because you wanted to please your in-laws.

I wish we could all just be left to rock our outfits as we wish, just as long as we are presentable before the average human eye.

I don’t really see the point of buying specific attire for specific audiences. This opens room for ridicule and bullying the day these people will get to know how the real you dresses. You had better show them the real you on the first encounter so that they get ‘shocked’ or ‘pleased’ once and for all.

The last time I wore a long, flowy dress to visit potential in-laws, I had a hard time juggling between house chores, holding my dress together and trying not to trip and fall. Catch me dead doing that again!

Not that I am planning to go and work like a donkey, no; if anything, I am planning to go and sit my small behind in front of the television and act like I don’t even have an idea about what I should be doing.

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