More than just a piece of clothing

The kanga is not just an ordinary piece of clothing, as has become evident. Beneath the surface, we can find a long history of women taking matters into their own hands and speaking out about issues that concern them. In this way, kangas have helped countless women to find their place in society.

They have paved a way for women to resist and show their voices within the limitations set by society. They are always sold in pairs: one is worn to cover the body from the shoulders to the ankles, and the other is used to cover the shoulders and arms when in public. Wearing a kanga therefore adheres to the basic dress code of certain predominantly Muslim regions, such as Zanzibar, as it covers the body from head to toe.Rose Ong’oa-Morara, “One Size Fits All: The Interplay of Kanga, Makawa, Swahili Poetry, and Taarab in the Communication of Zanzibari Women” (PhD diss., Arkansas State University, 2009), 8. Communication through a kanga thus enables women to speak their minds without having to cross social boundaries. The cloth can speak either by being worn for other people to see, or by being given to another woman as a present. Rose Marie Beck, “Texts on textiles: proverbiality as characteristic of equivocal communication at the East African coast,” Journal of African Cultural Studies Vol. 17, No. 2 (2005): 132

Up until today, kangas are widely worn by East African women. They have become less popular in the public sphere, but it is still common to wear a kanga at home. Many women buy new kangas regularly, if they can afford it. Kangas and their messages become outdated fairly quickly, as they are bound to specific contexts, as we have seen. Thus, most women own at least 20, but sometimes even up to 200 kangas at a time. Therefore, a woman’s economic autonomy can be determined by the size of her kanga collection. If a kanga is no longer worn as a piece of clothing, women also use it as a protective cover while cooking, for strapping their children on their back or even as a cloth diaper for infants. Rose Ong’oa-Morara, “One Size Fits All: The Interplay of Kanga, Makawa, Swahili Poetry, and Taarab in the Communication of Zanzibari Women” (PhD diss., Arkansas State University, 2009), 6-8.

In this fashion, kangas are more than just simple pieces of clothing. Throughout the past century they have become a means for women to express themselves and speak up. They have become powerful objects of truth and lies, of love and hate. This shows us - once again - that objects are not just objects, but that there is a lot more meaning hidden within than first meets the eye.