The ‘modern Kenyan woman’ unveiled

The married woman in Kenya feels more vulnerable to contracting HIV, income loss and un-expected pregnancy than her single counterpart.

This disturbing information is revealed in a DAMA research report by Consumer Insight, during which 1300 women from Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nyeri and Eldoret were interviewed.

Despite the fears expressed by the married women, a church wedding remains high on the list of ideals they wish to keep. Even then, only a few more than one third of the ‘married’ women interviewed have had a religious wedding. Most settle for customary or come-we-stay arrangements.

Almost 26 per cent of the married women say they married 'the wrong man' and one third of them do not live with their husbands. About 10 per cent of the women surveyed, want a civil wedding, and exactly the same number had one. Even more curiously, about 20 per cent find it acceptable for a woman to propose marriage to a man.

The single woman feels better able to control encounters that may lead to harm. Both the young and those over 30 believe that life is moving too fast and that home is a retreat and refuge from the busy world; a place they can go to unwind by watching series on DVD all day or simply sleeping all weekend.

The study, ‘aimed at better understanding the woman and their impact on the social-economic fabric of the country’, also showed that the many faces you see in church on Sunday morning, are likely to be the very same faces getting down and dirty in clubs the night before. Women’s finances, media use, shopping behaviour and lifestyle choices were also covered in this study.

DAMA showed that while women want to own households, they dislike household chores. They are also technology addicts but like to take a break from it all and just sleep. The study also showed that married women over 30 watch and listen to a lot more TV and radio than their younger counterparts who prefer the Internet. Far fewer young women use email, suggesting that social media like WhatsApp may be the future of online communication and entertainment.

For an ideal life, the Kenyan women cited money, a good job, good house, good education and family as being most important, the last of which is favoured by the woman over 30. World Peace is equally important to the young and old.

Who and what they admire

Ambition, Nelson Mandela, Wangari Maathai and a new addition, First Lady Margaret Kenyatta are all things the modern Kenyan woman admires. Impulse shopping for clothes and shoes is another way to indulge the self, and Kenyan women pursue 'retail therapy' with a vengeance. More than 60 per cent say they bought clothes at least once a month. Eight per cent bought clothes at least once a week. More than three quarters of these shoppers, favour second-hand markets.

When it came to hair care, braids rule but weaves were in the top five as well. More than 60 per cent of the money spent on hair-care went to artificial hair types. The consolation here is that close to 90 per cent believe that beauty for Kenyan women is grounded in internal values and in self-belief rather than appearance.  Overall, behind every shopper, wife, clubber and mother, is an income earner. It comes as no surprise then that a majority (how many) of the women surveyed said they earned a personal income.

For married women, business is a vital source of income, while a good percentage also works in active employment, where they enjoy equality to a high degree. A surprising 90 per cent say they have experienced no discrimination for being female. Whether they were treated preferentially is not clear. That is the modern Kenyan woman.