The Stripping of Women in Kenya Points to a Bigger Social Problem

Skimpy dressed women

Kenya News -- A Nairobi lady was stripped naked by touts for covering herself with little cloth (there is a video to that effect, it’s online, and a link should be somewhere on this page). She wasn't even dressed that skimpy -- she was wearing a miniskirt, exposing just a bit of her thighs. Other parts of her body were decently covered.

Pointer to a bigger social problem? 

The people who stripped her are the usual self-destructed, substance-abusing hopeless idlers. An ignorant lot who can't find an easier job than the unruly touting that has given the Matatu business its bad name. These people make up the majority of people in Bus Stations and other places and tend to act with a lot of impunity. They punished her with their frustrations I guess!

 Her ordeal was video-recorded by a bystander and the video sadly shows how the lady cried for mercy to no avail.

Time to make noise? 

It's not hard to sympathize with the lady and, as expected, the incident has attracted widespread condemnation from members of the public, the clergy, the political class, the media, and the self-appointed "human rights" activists, who, to be honest, are forever preoccupied with activities to push for their own economic rights. It’s God-sent that most categories of people in the above list made noise – what an opportunity to be seen to be working.

 On a rather serious note, the unfortunate event brought to the fore the harsh realities of a society that is experiencing unprecedented levels of moral decay: discussions revolving around the recent unmasking of the daring “seed” miracle conspiracy haven’t died out, neither have those relating to the self-confessed Naivasha human “vampire”, and many others.

 Action time 

The long arm of the law has inevitably swung into action. The criminals whose faces appeared in the video are now subject to a first class police manhunt. We have no doubt that they will be “brought to book” (an obviously overused phrase). The police on this side of the universe, for understandable reasons, partly use their time and efforts conducting small but illicit economic activities. They expect citizens to behave themselves like grown people who don't need to be watched all the time. The police really hate being reminded of their policing responsibilities. In fact, any incident that draws nationwide condemnation and which seems to suggest that the police are sleeping on the job is always received with a stern knee-jerk reaction from the force. Culprits must pay dearly, they always do. They can't hide, they can't run --Kenya is too small for an angered police force. How many agree?

Is it wrong to dress like that?

 First, indecency in dressing is not generally encouraged in Kenya but there is increasing tolerance. For example, when you are going about your business in the CBD and a rainstorm is approaching (picture this), you’ll likely be treated to a spectacular scene of a high-heeled lady bolting across the street with half of her blessings sticking out in the wind. Confronted with such scenes, most of us just pretend to be minding our own businesses or do we? I think that’s the most civilized way to go about it. The most a skimpy-dressed woman can get from the "civilized" city dwellers are whispers, giggles, and well-intended praises from saliva-swallowing young men with broad smiles. In fact, young ladies are very happy with the attention they get and are tempted to show even more on their next CBD visit. They get motivated to continue copying “fashionable trends” from their more insane counterparts in the US and elsewhere. After all it’s sensible to reduce the amount of flesh covered when you think of some valid 21st century reasons. With climate change and everything, temperatures are just unbearable these days. And who expects a trendy 21st century young woman to walk around covered like a sheep that is being bred for wool?

Maybe its no big deal but be cautious  

And you know what? No one is really supposed to care about the "annoying" habit.  Parents and siblings don't like their own exposing too much. This is liberal world. Even when so many people think how you dress is their business, you will always find a place for whatever level of nakedness you want to don. Do it there please if you have to because you don't know what may happen to you. For example, no one will or is supposed to ask you any questions if they caught you busting a Miley Cyrus move in your full birth suit but in the comfort of your private room. In such a scenerio you are the one to demand answers.

 Ladies should be careful with where they walk with their very partially covered bodies. Some busy parts of Nairobi like Muthurwa and Machakos Bus Terminus are clearly hostile. Places that are highly concentrated with non-job fit, shilling-seeking, frustrated young men should not be in the path of anyone who is overly attracting attention and curiosity. Any sane person walking in these areas have their sixth sense high on alert. With their mob-mentality, the idle, substance-abusing youth will pathologically tend to feel “irritated” and there is a high chance they won’t take such provocations lying down. Of course, in reality, a huge proportion of their anger and frustration is due to the apparent self-projected inability to have a "decent" woman (read the victim) in their lives. Is it true that no woman dares to seek happiness in the unkempt, substance-abusing early childhood-school dropouts? When they strip a woman, to me it appears like they just want to see more, but have a zero chance of achieving that through proper and civilized means and so they force it. It’s not like they don’t like what they seeing. Hell no! They like it very much.

Any Lessons from the incident? 

 From a concerned citizen’s perspective, the increased culture of lawlessness by thousands of idle youth in the city and elsewhere in the country is reason for law-makers and implementers to worry. These are the same people who seize any opportunity to cause mayhem, loot, and indulge in lots of other dark acts, causing untold suffering to people who actually work hard to make something for themselves and give this country a good name. The unruly bad youth really give us a bad name.
Here is the video

Note: I here another grown woman was stripped today (11/17/2014)

Another lady stripped

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