DRESS AS A MEDIUM OF CULTURAL EXPRESSION

Introduction

Anthropologically, humans are distinguished and, indeed, distinguish themselves from other living creatures by culture, which is broadly defined as a people’s way of life. This encompasses human attributes like learned behaviour, values, attitudes and concepts of spirituality and morality and language. One of the most significant behavioural aspects of all humans is cover for their bodies: clothing. In modern cultures the need to cover our bodies is required because nakedness is frowned on. Although perceptions of nudity are relative, nudity, especially of adults, is considered disgusting, obnoxious, repugnant, offensive, disrespectful, or even a sign of insanity in all modern cultures.

The only nudity that all cultures tolerate is that of infants because infants are considered to be innately asexual. However, some communities in the less developed world tolerate nudity well beyond infancy. As a matter of fact, in some so-called traditional societies nudity, especially of boys, is tolerated until the children are about to reach puberty. In contrast, in the developed world nudity beyond infancy is discouraged because of rampant sexual abuse of children, a problem that is sadly increasingly being experienced in Kenya and other less developed countries.

In general, parents will admit that infants and young children derive a lot of fun from running, sunning, or playing in water in the nude. However, as they develop and become acculturated into different societies, they learn that nudity is not acceptable in public. At the same time, they are also taught what the required levels of clothing in their culture is and what parts of the body must be covered, especially in public. Consequently, children who, if left to their own devices, would probably have preferred nudity to clothing, start adapting the habit of clothing themselves.

Definitions of Nudity

Whereas legal definitions of nudity exist in western cultures, perception of nudity in Kenya is generally determined by one’s cultural and religious background, rather than by legal definitions. In the USA, for example, nudity encompasses the exposure of a woman’s nipples or the exposure of male or female private parts in public. In contrast, the closest one comes to a legal definition of nudity in Kenya is the use of the term “indecent” in the phrase “indecent assault” as well as the Judeo-Christian cultural and religious concepts of “decency,” “modesty” and “privacy” in the Penal Code of Kenya.1 The phrase “indecent assault” denotes “a statutory crime that includes all forms of sexual assault other than rape, buggery and attempts to commit either of those crimes.”2 Therefore, perceptions of nudity, and by implication acceptable standards of clothing are relative; they vary through place and time.

Why Cover Our Bodies?

The serpent, the wiliest of all the field animals the Lord God had made said to the woman [Eve], “So God has told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?” The woman answered the serpent, “we may eat the fruit of the garden’s trees; but about the fruit of the tree in the center of the garden God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “No, you would not die at all! But God knows that whenever you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will, like gods, be knowing good and evil.” The woman saw the tree as being good for food, delightful to the eye and a tree desirable to render one wise, so she took of its fruit and ate; she also gave to her husband, who ate with her. Then the eyes of both were opened and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves skirts.3

Thus, it was Adam’s and Eve’s loss of innocence that brought about the need to cover their bodies. Since then, in the Judeo-Christian tradition nudity in public has been considered shameful and sinful.

However, according to evolutionists (anthropologists included), nudity has prevailed for the better part of humankind’s existence. Clothing, initially in the form of leaves and animal skin, is a fairly recent invention. Whereas, a few communities like the Yanomami of South America still prefer decorating their bodies with fruit dye and flowers to wearing clothes4, for most of humankind’s existence only the private parts of one’s body were covered. The extensive body covering evident in many parts of the world today came about as a result of the spread of the mainstream religions like Christianity and Islam.

Interestingly, regardless of the culture or religion we identify with, we do not necessarily cover every bit of our bodies. Rather, we tend to cover specific parts of the body, thus consciously hiding them from public view. In so doing, we leave other parts of the body uncovered, thus consciously exposing them. The clothes we wear also enable us to emphasize or over-emphasize certain parts of our bodies. Some men, for example, will flaunt their biceps, chests or potbellies. On the other hand, some women will flaunt their breasts, bottoms or thighs.

If you spend just a few minutes looking at what the people around you are wearing, you will notice that their attire differs from individual to individual. Besides the religious, legal and cultural explanations noted above, other reasons for this range from personal taste, to the desire to project a given character or image, socio-cultural expression and functionality.

Some people may dress in a particular way in order to outwardly project the character or image they desire to be identified with. Naturally, the desired character or image may be at variance with one’s real self. Two reasons can be offered to explain this behaviour. First, such people may lack self-esteem and therefore wish to be seen by other people in a different light. Secondly, they could be conforming to their community’s dress code in order to avoid reprisals they might be faced with if their dressing is at variance with their community’s cultural, social, moral, legal or religious norms.

People also cover their bodies in order to protect themselves from the elements: excessive heat, cold weather and/or rain. In addition, they choose to dress in specific ways because it makes them feel good about themselves or to celebrate events like weddings. Whereas, one would certainly appear odd taking part in a wedding ceremony dressed in a revealing swimming costume or going swimming in a three piece suit, the same costumes are accepted elsewhere: the former tends to be the norm at the swimming pool or on the beach, whilst the three piece suit is acceptable in the business world. Similarly, the thumbnail skirt is the norm on the tennis court among female tennis players, but not anywhere else in public.

Clothing is therefore also important because it is a medium of socio-cultural expression: a form of communication. It sends all kinds of messages: who we are, who we want to be, where we come from and–among adults, especially in the western world–subtle signals of sexual orientation. It also sends out messages about our age, gender, religious beliefs, cultural beliefs, social status, artistic tastes and political inclinations. In addition, it makes a fashion statement. For example, a Kenyan male in his 40s or 50s donning a pair of bell-bottomed or flared trousers, which were fashionable in the 1970s when the apparel was the most treasured item in his wardrobe, would certainly look out of place today.

All this not only applies to adults, but also to children. For instance, an observant parent will admit that it is not unusual for him or her to buy a child some clothes that the child will only wear reluctantly. They may wear the clothes only once or only a few times before hiding or discarding them without the parent’s knowledge. That is because, as far as the child is concerned, the attire is at variance with his or her desired identity.

Adornments and Perfumes

Besides clothes, we also wear adornments, perfumes, hair, and body scarification. As for adornments, we wear what is likely to enhance our desired appearance and in some cases to send out messages about our age, gender and ethnic identity.5 The necktie falls in this category because, unlike the rest of male apparel, it helps focus people’s attention on the wearer’s face. For women, necklaces, earrings, mascara and hair serve a similar purpose. Women tend to place a high premium on their hair because of the additional messages it sends out: beauty, standards of hygiene, religious beliefs, cultural identity and status. For men, the hair and the beard may be groomed to consciously express their political or religious affiliation. As for perfumes, they are intended to ward off unwanted bad body odours.

In many traditional African societies adornment also came in the form of body scarification or cicatrisation, namely, the making of shallow cuts in the skin to form elaborate patterns of tattoos or scars. The patterns formed in this way sent out messages of beauty and bravery in some communities, while in others they signified the attainment of manhood, womanhood or ethnic affiliation.6 Although many communities have since abandoned this practice, it is increasingly rearing its head all over the world in the form of tattoos. Where they occur, tattoos tend to convey messages of beauty, status, sexual orientation, religious orientation, cultural beliefs, and political inclination. For the young adults, they also tend to express rebellion against parental, cultural, religious or political authority and, therefore, a sense of independence.

Cultural Misunderstandings

The relative nature of perceptions of nudity vis-à-vis body covers renders cultural misunderstandings inevitable. Some people from the western world, for example, assert that the veil demeans the Muslim woman, a view that is undoubtedly influenced by their cultural and religious backgrounds. However, to a Muslim woman who comes from a non-western cultural background, the veil affords her privacy and modesty. Further, from an anthropological point of view, the veil also affords the woman the power to gaze at others and the world without retaliation: it gives her a unique view of the world, where she looks at other people under her own terms.

The complaint by women from urban areas in Kenya and those from the western cultures that rural-based men tend to ogle them is another example of cultural misunderstanding. Whereas exposure of a bit of the upper part of a woman’s leg and the wearing of tight fitting trousers is acceptable in urban settings largely because of their cosmopolitan nature, these modes of dressing are culturally unacceptable in most rural areas. As such, what is often interpreted as “ogling” may be an expression of disgust due to varied perceptions of clothing vis-à-vis nakedness.

Cultural misunderstanding is also evident in the natural activity of breastfeeding. In Kenya, culture and law sanction breastfeeding in public. That is because breasts are viewed as innocent organs for nurturing young life. In contrast, breastfeeding in public in the US is regarded as indecent exposure in virtually all the states. As such, it is punishable by law because breasts and, especially nipples, are considered to be sexual objects. Similarly, in some Kenyan cultures a woman must cover her thighs while in public because these are viewed as sexual objects. On the other hand, thighs are simply parts of the legs and, therefore, a means of locomotion in western cultures.7

This observation is amplified by the dress code of the American female student visiting Kenya and her counterpart from the Dassanech community in the northeastern shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya in the photograph below. The former literally dresses from the waist up and the latter from the waist down. Although, each one of them thinks she is properly clothed, in the eyes of the other she is naked.

A similar scenario is observed in the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rachel Price, a teen-age character in Barbara Kingsolver’s novel The Poisonwood Bible, in Kilanga village, where her father is a missionary:
…right in front of our very eyes, some of the women stood up there in the firelight with their bosoms naked as a jaybird’s egg. Some of them were dancing, and others merely ran around cooking, as if nakedness were nothing special. They passed back and forth with pots and kettles, all bare-chested and unashamed…. Whenever they bent over, their heavy breasts swung down like balloons full of water. I kept my eyes turned away from them, and from the naked children who clung to their long draped skirts.8

Rachel observes further:

The women wear a sarong made of one fabric, with another big square of a different fabric wrapped over the top of it. Never jeans or trousers – not on your life. Bosoms may wave in the breeze, mind you, but legs must be strictly top secret. When mother steps foot out of the house in her black Capri pants, why, they all just gawk and stare.9 emphasis added)

The varied perceptions of nudity vis-à-vis dressing explain why an African woman tends to dash for a wraparound, leso, immediately she is out of the swimming pool. By covering her legs, especially the upper parts, she avoids sending out culturally undesirable signals. In contrast, a woman from any of the western cultures tends to be at home in skimpy swimwear out of water and when sunning herself because, as far as her culture is concerned, by keeping her nipples and private parts covered, she is not sending out any undesirable signals.