THE MODERN SKIRT. by Marilyn Maluki
‘I was taught that the way to keep a man was by the work of my hands and the words of my mouth.’-Margret Ogola.
I woke up at 4:00am today and I stared at the shadow of the moon on my wall for a couple of minutes. It was time to go into the outside world and deal with backfiring cars and their human equivalents.
Not every woman in the corporate industry is as unhappy as I am. The modern day woman enjoys taking the bull by the horns and making her own ends meet.
The corporate industry has mainly been male dominated but with equal opportunity and equal pay, we have women sitting in boardrooms with designer suits, coffee mugs and most importantly, with ideas up to the sharp edges of their collars. Pretty is not enough. The modern woman is unlike the traditional woman. She is more equipped to perform tasks that were previously considered masculine. The earliest available jobs for women were; midwives, teaching, dressmaking, nursing and domestic service work. Today, the opportunities are diverse.
On my way home, I wondered about the countries where women are still stuck in the dark ages. The modern skirt in Kenya is not where it should be, but it is not where it was. I was not employee of the month, but I have a chance to work my way there.
My bus ride has either come to an end or we ran out of fuel. Regardless, I have no more words to waste. Maya Angelou made me wear a suit when I was 17. She wrote, ‘I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. You’ve got to go out and kick ass!’