Unpacking Africans� skewed perceptions of nakedness and dress �indecency�
Keletso Thobega | Friday January 9, 2015 17:00
A confident woman, who pushes boundaries and does what she wants, when she wants, still makes some people uncomfortable, particularly the insecure and low self-esteemed types. The assumption of such a woman is often that she is a rebel or attention seeker.
While not everyone found Berry Heart’s outfit tasteful, we must agree that she broke a record. How many so-called local celebrities have found themselves on the front page of two different newspapers in the same week?
Berry Heart is my alter ego. She’s natural, real and not afraid to express herself. She also takes her artistry seriously. If she feels comfortable expressing herself half naked, so be it. Berry Heart has continued to attract criticism for her choice of dress (or lack of), which sometimes eclipses her talent. But that’s not the issue.
What really boggles me is why we get hot under the collar when we see exposed bits of flesh? Ga lo itse serope ne batho?
Interestingly, the perception of nakedness changes when someone is wearing Western clothes. As someone who enjoys traditional dance, I have on many occasions seen women jiggling jelly thighs, exposing trembling buttocks and podgy girths in their matlalo attire. They are never attacked or humiliated. Is the weak argument that “it’s our culture”?
Last year, Nairobi came to a standstill when hundreds of Kenyans took to the streets to march against harassment and heinous attacks of women who had gone out in public wearing short skirts.
Several years ago, I was part of a miniskirt march in Johannesburg, where I was living at the time. Several women had been attacked at the Noord taxi rank for being “dressed indecently”, and were called “whores”. Some people are sick. When did human beings become Gods of Sin, to conclude that someone is a “whore”, informed by their own bias and short sightedness? Surprisingly, it’s usually men who insult women. We expect men to be custodians of peace and protect women, but they are the same ones who go all out to judge and make women uncomfortable.
Around the same time when this hullaballoo broke, I had a chat about the issue with a male friend who bashed women who dressed in revealing clothes. I pointed out to him that why is it that when a white female is dressed in a short skirt or mini dress, she’s left to her devices, or said to be “sexy” but the tables turn when it’s a black woman? He fumbled an incoherent response. Yes, I pulled out the race card because I think as Africans we battle with primitiveness!
A few years ago, when I was slimmer and firmer (before I lost gravity) I liked wearing short skirts and dresses (To show off my Tina Turner legs, baby!). However, I found that as much as I attracted compliments for my gorgeous thighs and toned legs, some people perceived it negatively. I recall one time I was walking across the Gaborone Station, wearing a mini skirt (it was probably ten centimeters above my knee). I got wolf-whistles but ignored them. As I was climbing up the bridge, a small commotion ensued when a few men rallied around and threatened to “strip women who walk around half-naked”. Luckily, several people vowed to protect me from the hooligans. You could say it was a lucky escape, but I’m not the type of person you screw over and live happily to re-tell the story. Unfortunately, not all women are “lucky”. Some women have found themselves at the mercy of hooligans and perverts who strip them.
It’s a shame that this blatant impunity is tolerated in our society. Some people act like semi-gods, walk around with an invisible barometer of decency, and want to dictate what is, and is not acceptable garb for women. Violation is also embedded in some men’s minds because they feel obliged to “fix” women. They behave like they weren’t borne of women themselves.
Times have changed, so should our mentalities. Just chill, a thigh is just a thigh!