A few days a go heated debate ensued in the comment section after a post on Togo by Mshairi. When I last checked, the main commenter had apologised for behaving, in his words like a jackass.
I had imagined that was the end of that, until I came across this blog entry by the same person who had so recently apologised. I wouldn’t have given the post a second thought had it not been for the excerpts below,
O.K., maybe beat up is a bit of an exaggeration but certainly it was a severe reprimanding or something by believe it or not, women from Kenya
The author not content with expressing his suprise at the fact that our assertiveness did not meet his expectations of what constitutues Kenyan lady-like behaviour goes on. He says
something which though contained in one sentence I have split in two. I have done so because, for want of a better phrase, the punch line is a classic.
The sentence starts of with
And I thought they were so nice and friendly…
I am not sure if he is talking about Kenyan women as a whole or if he is talking about those of us involved in the debate.
If it is in reference to those who disagreed with him,
Firstly, I really would like to know on what basis a man who has never met me can conclude that I am/was ‘nice and friendly?’
Secondly, if it is my assertiveness that has led him to believe that I am not/no longer nice and friendly; I would really like to know when assertiveness and niceness became mutually exclusive qualities?
If the author is talking about Kenyan women in general, he has certainly pre-empted my question as to his method of research and/or basis of his conclusion. Apparently he thought, Kenyans were nice and friendly;
just like on TV
I can not begin to respond I shall be back to respond to the issues he raised and why the offended me.
Dude must have edited his blog because I have checked his site out and he has backtracked so much sijui if the original post is as is ama what.
On the generalizations…I was wondering too…mnajuana ama? Was thinking that sounded really personal and if he was just generalizing Kenyan women the whole thing is just sad!
Nice and friendly LOL!
Acutally the comment made on my blog was a “tongue in cheek” response to the heated debate you refer to on Mshairi’s blog. I try to have fun with my my blog readers sometimes but obviously it is not always successful.
The apology was and is genuine, as well as the reference to my Jackass behavior (I didn’t know that the term Jackass was so well known, my Grandma would be pleased).
I have no pre-conceived ideas about Kenyan women as there have been so few opportunities for me to meet, talk, and interact with them in my life. Mshairi has been my best teacher so far about how some Kenyan women feel and think and try to deal with the many serious issues they face daily. I think the world of her and she can tell you that I have a healthy respect for women and girls worldwide, irregardless of their nationality or race or ethnic group.
If I have again offended or insulted you and other members of the Kenyan Women blogring(s) by what I have written then I can only again apologize for that. It was not intended not to do harm but to show that men can be very stubborn and “muleheaded”, but you already know that don’t you?
Mama JunkYard Says: Apology accepted, thank you for passing by and saying sorry.
Oh!
That was nice 🙂
Thank you (for accepting the apology). As I logged in to the network to begin work today I immediately went in search of the follow-up to this unfortunate incident.
I would like to comment on your Part 2 posting “…As Seen On TV” but I have to get some work accomplished now and I do want to take some time to think about it before I write (again).
I will go back to my original posting which caused so much offense to you and others and edit my statements so that whoever may come across the posting in the future does not misinterpret the meaning of my words.