Women
Training The Child For Life
Children need to be taught
that life is all about earnest work, responsibility and caretaking. It is the divine duty of parents to imbibe in the children and youth an ambition to spend their time in doing something that will be beneficial to themselves and helpful to others. Children should be trained to develop the mind and character that will enable them to bear their share of life’s burdens, strengthen and quicken every physical and mental ability.
They should be trained to acquire virtuous industry in the cultivation of the habit of living to do good and make them practical men and women who can cope with emergencies. Children must be taught that the discipline of systematic, well-regulated labour is essential, not only as a safeguard against the vicissitudes of life, but as an aid to all-round development.
It is an error to regard physical labour or work as degrading. Many young men and women feel more delighted in searching for white colar jobs such as teaching, clerical, merchants, lawyers, and to occupy positions that do not require physical labour. Young women regard house work as belittling as it requires physical exercise to perform it. If not too severe, house-hold work promotes health.
The world is full of young men and women who pride themselves on their ignorance of useful labour, and they are almost invariably, frivolous, vain, fond of display, unhappy, unsatisfied, and too often dissipated and unprincipled. Such characters are a blot or spoiler on the society and a disgrace to their parents. No child should be trained to be ashamed of work, however, small and servile or large it may be. Labour is enabling and all who toil with hands and head are working men and women, they are dignified.
The youth should be led to see the true dignity of labour. One reason physical toil is looked down on is the slipshop that is, done without care and unthinking way in which it is often performed. Physical labour is viewed or regarded as done from necessity, not from choice. Children should be taught to do manual labour and how to develop habits of accuracy and thoroughness. They should learn to economise time and money and to make every move count. They should not only be taught the methods, but be inspired with ambition constantly to improve. Let it be their aim to make their work as nearly perfect as human brains and hands can make it.
Such training will make children and youths masters and not slaves of labour. This does not mean that they should not be encouraged to recognise science and art as a noble field of endeavour. They should be taught to take pleasure in all work they perform with faithfulness and efficiency.
A faithful mother cannot devote to fashion, neither will she be a domestic slave to humour the whims of her children and excuse them from hard work. She has to teach them to share the domestic duties with her so that they will have knowledge of practical life. If the children share the work with their mother, they will learn to regard useful employment as essential to happiness and ennobling rather than degrading. But if the mother educates her children, especially the daughters to be indolent while she bears the heavy burdens of domestic life, she is teaching them to look down upon her as their servant, to do the things they should do. The mother and father should ever retain their dignities.
Some parents are at fault in releasing their sons and daughters from toil and care, thereby encouraging them in laziness and indolence. They take the sure course to make them weak and inefficient by the mere excuse “my daughter or my son is not strong,” forgetting that well-directed labour is just what they require to make them strong, vigorous, cheerful, happy, and courageous to meet the various trails with which their lives are beset.
The carelessness of parents in neglecting to furnish their children with good ideas and instructions has resulted in untold evil, imperiling the lives of many and youth and sadly crippled their usefulness in the family and the society.
Shedie Okpara
IVY-K Fashion by Igiebor Daddy Lucky, a Nigerian-born designer now based in the UK, has launched the latest menswear line, Dapper Man.
One of the collection’s strengths is its classic, clean aesthetic. Dapper Man delivers sharp, structured suits in a timeless black and white color scheme that exudes a sense of luxury and professionalism. The use of high-quality fabrics like wool and silk ensures that the suits not only look high-end but also feel luxurious to the wearer. The designer’s focus on detail is evident in the meticulous tailoring, with fitted blazers and crisp trousers forming the foundation of the collection.
Where IVY-K Fashion shines is in the subtle yet elegant touches. The inclusion of beads as embellishments on lapels and cuffs adds a unique flair, blending traditional craft with modern tailoring. This nod to African heritage gives the collection a distinct identity, offering something more personal and culturally significant than your standard menswear line.
However, despite the elegance of the Dapper Man collection, there is a lingering sense of missed opportunity. The black-and-white color palette, while classic, feels overly safe. In a fashion landscape where bold colors and daring patterns often make the strongest impact, the collection could benefit from incorporating more vibrant hues or experimenting with unconventional fabrics. Pushing the envelope with color or texture could elevate these designs from simply elegant to truly memorable.
In addition, while the tailoring of the blazers and trousers is immaculate, the collection lacks a sense of playfulness or modern edge that many contemporary menswear lines are embracing. The suits are undoubtedly stylish, but the collection as a whole leans heavily on tradition. Experimenting with asymmetrical cuts, bold patterns, or even layering could add an exciting dimension to Dapper Man. The challenge is to maintain the sleek sophistication of the collection while infusing it with a fresh, innovative spirit.
Another area that could use improvement is the overall cohesion of the collection. While the suits are well-crafted, there is a feeling of repetition across the pieces. More variation in design, such as different lapel styles, pocket configurations, or even bolder accessories, would give the collection greater diversity and visual interest.
In conclusion, Dapper Man by Igiebor Daddy Lucky showcases the designer’s strong grasp of classic tailoring and elegant design, but to truly capture the attention of a broader audience, IVY-K Fashion would benefit from more daring choices. By infusing the collection with bold colors, unexpected textures, and a more modern edge, Dapper Man could move from a well-crafted line to a trendsetting force in men’s fashion. With such a solid foundation, there’s no doubt that Igiebor Daddy Lucky has the potential to lead his brand toward greater heights
The trend of indecent dressing all in the name of fashion is fast becoming a norm in our generation and society at large. Most married women embrace this fashion as competition with single ladies.
Different scholars have given an in depth insight about dressing as a tool of communication. Non-verbal communication has been asserted as the communication between people by the means of signs or symbols. It conveys what we wish to disseminate to the public as either intentionally or not.
According to Paul Ekman and Michael Argyle, communication is carried out through what has been classified as “Presentational Code”. He listed nine codes of non-verbal communication, as body contact, facial expression, gestures, postures, eye movement, proximity, orientation, head nods and appearance.
This, being stated, married and single ladies should understand that their mode of dressing is communicative be it directly or indirectly as such body parts we call “private” are now being made public because of the trends or wearing of transparent dresses and this in turn calls on the attention of men who are weak and prone to illicit thoughts thus, resulting to most rape cases in our society.
This indecent dressing by most ladies has denied many their future husbands. The truth is that a man is attracted to his kind; his desires in marriage. It is often asserted that decency and beauty are in the eyes of the beholder, yet, in trending times of this 21st century, dress code and fashion in nudity form is gaining popularity.
This has become complicated as most men tend to toggle between their emotions (lust) and sanity (rationality) in terms of marriage, thereby setting a wrong foundation upon which most marriages are consummated.
On the other hand, most married women have embraced the trend of indecent dressing nipping it on the state of it being the choice dressing, approved by their spouses, leaving society with the question of what “responsible” man would prefer that the secrecy of the benefit of his marital vow has become the centre of attraction and viewership by the general public.
Hence, communicating with their dressing gas given licence to every male gender who is interested or attracted to what they see to make unsolicited sexual passes at them, which might be considered embarrassing.
At this juncture, it is important to state that ladies should dress decently knowing that they are the epitome of nation-building, they are nation-builders, character moulders and pacesetters not just in the lives of their families but to the society at large.
In most occasions, there are no clear border lines between the married women and the single ladies because of the rate of scanty dressing which has close the gap of differences.
Women and girls should embrace this call awakening to decent mode of dressing. Dresses that are meant to be worn indoors should remain indoors.
It is worrisome to see ladies wear shorts that are supposed to be worn in the living room on the streets without shame. This is an awakening call to our ladies, married and singles that the opposite sex do not expose their private body parts for the public. Sometimes, the ladies go about in the streets without wearing brazziers as to showcase their nipples.
The society should be sanitised of the menace of indecent dressing that is lurking and taking over the entire nooks and crannies of the society and the nation at large.
Let it be known that he or she is addressed in the manner he or she is dressed. There may be no room for a second impression. To the single ladies, your dressing decently will not stop you from meeting your Mr Right rather, it will increase your stake and place you on the list of most valued women in the society.
Dressing speaks louder than words.
Kate Chisom Isiocha
Isiocha is an OND final year student of Temple Gate Polytechnic.
