Women are conditioned to live in fear. All over the world. Don’t walk on those streets, don’t wear those clothes, don’t be too intimidating, complex, complicated, loud, because men don’t like that. We live in patriarchal societies in which we pander to male preference. In Nairobi, men on the streets got to do what every…
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I’m in Kenya for four days en-route to Malawi. Instead of heading to all of the usual tourist haunts, I’m going to Heshima Kenya to meet the young women behind a growing movement in Africa; the move to empower women to be the change Africa needs through skills training and employment in creative endeavours. Tucked…
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Audrey Mbugua Ithibu is a transgender woman in Kenya. She was diagnosed with gender identity disorder (GID) after completing high school in 2001. Afterwards, she went about getting her name and gender changed on a host of documents: her national ID card, passport and examination certificates that prove she’s completed her schooling. The Kenya…
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“Mademoiselle” abolished Cesson-Sevigne, a town in France, has officially banned the title ‘Mademoiselle’. The reason behind the move is that it is nobody’s business whether or not a woman (or girl) is married. The distinction between the two titles, say officials, can be discriminatory or indiscreet. All women are to be addressed as ‘Madame’, regardless…
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The First Grader tells the true story of Kimani N’gan’ga Maruge (Oliver Litondo), a man who fought for Kenyan independence in the days of British colonial rule. When the Kenyan government introduces free education, amongst the many chatty children that arrive at a local primary school to enrol is Maruge. He is now 84 years…
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