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Exhibitionism in the name of fashion

Mon, 9 Sep 2013 Source: Okofo-Dartey, Samuel

Those days that the University Hall of KNUST popularly christened Katanga was the true Katanga of men, one discernible trait of Katangees as of that time was as they went on procession (Proce) to register their protest against any unpopular policy by school authorities, the Chief Priest in utter defiance to those in authorities and their queer policies will simply signal the BWT (Bii Wo To) commandoes to tease and mock the Vice Chancellor or any of the Professors who stood in their way with their hairy but dry arses. Ask P.V. Obeng if this was true or not. When Casfordians of UCC visited, it was more than fireworks. Well, times have changed.

However, of late our young ladies have taken over this defiance trademark of Fellows (Katangees) and turned it into a whole new industry called fashion. Now some ladies, both young and old, without any wee of shame are deliberating mooning as well as flashing through the way they dress. The acts of mooning and flashing which mean the exposure of buttocks and breasts respectively, in the middle part of the twentieth century, were considered a psychological malaise by psychologists. Today, it has become a vogue that seems not to fade away any time soon. I guess this is a confirmation of the notion that every mistake is a new style.

It is very discomforting to sit behind a lady in a public transport or even in a church and the moment she bends down to pick something or gets up to depart, her buttocks are graciously exposed for reasons best known to her. If you find yourself directly opposite her, you are offered the rare opportunity of feasting your eyes on her well propped breasts upon her attempt to rise up. It is obvious that, these ladies have consciously set traps to ensnare their victims if not clients either by the rear or the front.

One cardinal reason I have observed from these feminine exhibitions is that such acts are merely orchestrated by our female folks to attract or capture attention. They have mastered the art and laws of attraction to the extent that they know men are moved by what they see. If not so, why will they spend time and resources to appear appealing? Most men will agree with me that women by their nature love to draw attention to themselves. They love to be admired, pampered and eventually possessed despite the fact that they themselves are very possessive.

But I must confess the wanton exposure of those cleavages as if they are for sale and the dreadful display of curvy fleshy backsides are definitely for us the men. They are invitations to endless addictive pleasures. Nevertheless, some of our men are rather pushing our women to the extreme. Some gentlemen are shying away all because they have developed an unorthodox desire for their fellow men in the face of the yawning ratio between men and women.

So, why would not most desperate single women whose ages are maturing adopt such crude strategies to lure the attention of men especially the married ones? Now, gay men are telling these women they have become wise by discovering their true self through anal pleasure.

Beyond this, another hindrance that has kept some young men from taking bold steps to properly possess their right ribs is the prevailing economic hardship. In Ghana, where the cost of living keeps surging menacingly with unemployment figures bloating each passing day, most young men now hit and run swerving being tied down by responsibilities. Some of these ladies become what is commonly termed as ‘born one.’ For Christ’s sake in the midst of these myriad of economic tortures, how many men would want to add to their load extra baggage: ‘born one woman’ and an innocent bastard?

I feel sorry for our ladies but that is the reality of our time. Hence, if they resort to these radical but attractive antics, I think to a large extent I can understand them. These women have assumed and come to terms with the fact that the best form of defence is attack. Consequently their unabated unleash of their mesmerising body arsenals.

Aside that, I am tempted to believe that these young ladies do what they do because they blindly follow these western vogues. Just as some men in this tropical belt put on suit under the baking sun with sweats streaming down their faces, so do I think some ladies are ignorant of how best to wear what at what time for what purpose on what occasion. Their fashion savvy is twisted to the extreme frequency of the absurd fad.

Amid these fashion extremities, one thing those of us who have a proclivity for biblical prophesies is the certainty of the fact these wayward gestures are partly a fulfilment of a stage in the eschatological onslaught. Isaiah 4:1 reads, ‘In the last day seven women will take hold of one man and say, ‘‘we will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace.’’ In fact, there are a lot of women in this bracket who only need men of their taste to ferry them in the satisfaction of their emotional needs but can find none. Their Mr right are becoming extinct in the land of many male voices. The worst of all is the societal pressure and stigma attached to women who are not married at a certain age.

Therefore, whatever it takes for them to attract their calibre of men, they would not hesitate to do it. I must admit that on the surface, these fleshy revelations are quite pleasant to the eyes. Most men will watch once and turn to watch twice. Why is it so? The truth is that we are mere mortal men pretending to the immortals or angels on an imperfect earthly adventure. Such admirations backed by no evil intentions are pretty pure not demonic. The key caution is admire do not desire.

In all these, this is our loaned world and the only place we will ever see these charming and seductive feminine overtures and curvatures. There is little we can do to curb these indecent exposures especially when there are more men willing to credit their eyes with these fleshy graphics. We only have to manage and not fall dangerously into those welcoming cleavages irredeemably. Are our ladies prepared to spare us these benign tortures? Your guess is as good as mine.

SOURCE: OKOFO-DARTEY SAMUEL

E: MAIL: sodesq2000@yahoo.com

Columnist: Okofo-Dartey, Samuel