By NERIMA WAKO-OJIWA

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Getting dressed for the day or an occasion can take a while for some people. And in many households, there will probably be complaints of just how long women take to dress up. But could this be deeper than just looking fabulous or being indecisive? Perhaps even more ingrained than we think, exists insidious thoughts of doubt, from analysing how particular outfits portray oneself and what you are aiming to portray on that particular day and these thoughts often occur to women more than men.

As congratulatory messages were going around social media, especially to US vice president-elect Kamala Harris, I could not help but notice how young women were so proud to see her in such a position. People will not take you seriously in politics if one has a certain look. Even though we wouldn’t want to admit it, there is a stereotypical look for politics, there is a look for working in a bank and then there is a look for artists. But why do we invest so much in appearances when it comes to women in politics? Especially when it comes to the engagement of women who are political leaders. Statistically, young women’s participation in Kenya when it comes to politics is dismal. So much so, even when we have some of our meetings and engagements, the young women who show up are less than half compared to young men, and those who speak during the forum are even fewer.

For men, no one really enters politics shabbily dressed, but it will unlikely be a topic for the day. Parliamentary sessions have literally been held hostage because of a woman’s shoulders.

An icon, that is often glorified for her sense of fashion was Princess Diana. Many would think that she was always had an eye for fashion, but that is far from the truth. At the age of 19-years-old, a school teacher who was timid and shy, was suddenly thrust into the limelight after her engagement to Prince Charles. She had to go shopping for dresses that week, because she would change multiple times a day and had this sudden influential image to upkeep.

It is not unheard of to see women in high level leadership cut their hair shorter, and wear more pant suits and less dresses to almost fit into the boy’s club. The decisions that women make when it comes to their sense of style is so tiring to do on a daily basis. Judged on appearance and sometimes you’re not even the one in leadership but your spouse, often times first ladies find themselves in this fish bowl life of design. Watching Kamala Harris, it inspires many, aside from being qualified to performing phenomenally, she is often seen in pant suits, and being the first woman to occupy the vice president seat in the US, I hope that she dazzles us by being herself — she will definitely be breaking more glass ceilings.

Nerima Wako-Ojiwa, executive director, Siasa Place @NerimaW