The story of human disobedience recorded in Genesis 3 tells us that until the snake deceived Eve into sinning, Adam and his wife Eve lived happily as a couple in the Garden of Eden while naked.
Reads Genesis 3:9—10: “But the Lord God called out to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He answered, “I heard you in the garden; I was afraid and hid from you because I was naked.”
This knowledge by the man perplexed God who then asks on verse 11: “Who told you that you were naked?”
The Bible says Adam and Eve earned themselves expulsion from the garden of plenty to start a new life of misery, destitution and hatred after sinning against the creator.
The Bible states that God was not happy that man had become knowledgeable of “what is good and what is bad” (Genesis 3:22).
However, there seems to be a paradigm shift from the way Adam and his wife used to dress after the expulsion.
Those who lived in the pre-Kamuzu era have attested to the fact that people have never before exposed their bodies like it is happening today such that a core villager or a ‘primitive’ man visiting towns and cities may easily speculate that people are moving towards regaining their nakedness.
If he takes a stroll through the streets of Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu, an ancient man would see how fed up people have become with clothing, especially the youth.
Girls are barely covering their private parts nowadays. And, not wanting to be outdone, boys, too, are trying their best to expose theirs by pulling down their attire in what has become to be known as kukhwefula.
While some people have argued that this is a sign of modernism, others raise suspicions about the motives for dressing styles that expose one’s private parts to public view.
This is despite the fact that some, if not all, belong to one religion or the other, which has its own dressing practices and beliefs.
Unlike some religions such as Islam where women are encouraged to cover their heads in hijabs, Christianity does not require a strict dress code.
Still, the Bible says clothes were not designed to reveal one’s body shape or draw attention to body parts, but instead take attention away.
Says 1 Peter 3:3-4: “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
One believer, David Phiri who lives in Blantyre, said modern styles of dressing are aimed at attracting public attention.
Phiri, an employee of Malawi Savings Bank (MSB), said while Adam and Eve were unconscious of their nakedness, modern people are exposing their private parts with their full conscience.
“Today, people are exposing their private parts to attract and sell themselves to prospective suitors,” he said.
Reverend James Mingu of Chiringa CCAP Church in ….said people who are ‘dressing to attract’ are simply inviting God’s wrath on themselves.
“For instance, passages from the Bible suggest that women dress modestly, with decency and propriety and that inner beauty is more important than outer beauty. This means that whoever is dressing contrary to this is sinning against God,” said Mingu.
