This archive report was first published on 12 August 2019.
Kenyan women have come a long way from their mothers' days when they stayed at home, knitting, sewing, cooking, cleaning, gossiping, and plaiting their hair while waiting patiently for their husbands to come home from work.
Today, women are not only financially empowered but also have the freedom to do what they want, when they want. They have invaded the male sanctuary that was the bar, and can out-drink men any day, anytime.
From rural village markets to the cities, women have taken over the bar, ordering juicy steaks and giving stern instructions about their preferred chunks of meat. They are no longer content with just being barmaids or ladies of the night; they are now the ones ordering drinks and enjoying themselves.
As an anthropologist, Paul Omondi, puts it, 'drinking is a habit most women acquire in college and never let go, especially when they are financially empowered.' He believes that women have picked up this habit from their college days and have never looked back.
But not everyone is happy with this new trend. Some men feel that their space has been violated, and they are no longer the only ones who can enjoy a drink or two at the bar. They feel that women are imitating all their bad drinking habits, but they should also learn how to handle too much tipple.
David Odongo, a journalist, says that men are only opposed to women drinking because tipsy women are an armful. They become a mess in public and easily get violent. While they have managed to imitate all our bad drinking habits, at least they should learn how to handle too much tipple.
But women are not just taking over the bar; they are also taking over other male-dominated spaces, including football. Initially, like beer, soccer was a male bonding experience - an escape from the domineering wife or girlfriend, for a therapeutic session with the boys and much-needed breathing space.
Today, when men see a woman wearing a Manchester United T-shirt, celebrating a Romelo Lukaku goal with a Tusker in hand, they say nothing because that is the politically correct thing to do. But deep inside, some feel their space has been violated.
As Odongo puts it, 'the age of explaining off-sides and dead balls to women is long gone. These days, women are very much at home picking a football team's first eleven, who should be substituted and which new player should be bought.'
It is a far cry from our mothers' days when women stayed at home, knitting, sewing, cooking, cleaning, gossiping, and plaiting their hair while waiting patiently for their husbands to come home from work. Today, few are the men whose 'royal' seat is reserved and whose coat is taken at the door as they walk in.
Even in the bedroom, the wardrobe is invaded, and his two coats and one jacket are pushed behind to create 80 per cent worth of space for her majesty. The shoe rack only has his two pairs of shoes, while her 23 pairs resemble a shoe market.
Back in the sitting room, the TV might as well have been made for women. In short, the man can never feel at home in his own house, the reason he needs to escape to the bar, to seek sanity and minimize contact with the wife, which, a wise old man will tell you, generates familiarity and breeds contempt.
