1053. Aka mayĩsĩ ngũ ta mathendũ. Women do not distinguish dry bark from logs.

This is a women’s maxim in which is meant that a woman can marry any man without considering his worth at sex. As a critique of that free choice, the proverb compares two men as equivalent to bark and logs. The bark (a worthless man) blazes brightly but tires quickly – its warmth (romance and material support) is short-lived. On the other hand, the log burns longer, and its warmth is satisfying and sustaining. The effort to secure a log matches the effort of securing a long-lasting marital relationship. This maxim emerged in periods with intense competition for suitors in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

1054. Aka me kĩtũlĩ ve ũndũ mawetaa. Curvy women have something to say.

This maxim, popular since the 1970s, has featured in many cultural dances. According to oral accounts it means curvy women lure men into temptation.

1055. Aka me ũko ta indo. Women have types like livestock.

Elders said this to young men advising them to seek carefully for their brides. The maxim has multiple variants, all meaning not every woman is suitable as a wife. It is applied in other ways such as in business partnerships or any long-term commitment to a joint undertaking.

1056. Aka nĩ mamĩthemba ta mathamba. Women are of different kinds like iron sheets.

Corrugated iron sheets were initially called mathamba. Since the Second World War that name has faded, which means that the proverb emerged sometime between the late nineteenth century and the outbreak of the Second World War, the period when such a term was used. As such, this maxim warned young men to be meticulous in choosing life partners. It also calls for keen scrutiny of whatever field of work one wants to venture into.

1057. Aka nĩ ndia ndiku na ndũlika nzĩnĩ wa mĩkuthũa. Women are deep ponds that a man cannot swim through successfully.

This was used among womanizers who ironically persuaded listeners to refrain from being womanizers. A man cannot exhaust the energy of women if he chooses to be promiscuous. Although with longstanding precedents, it emerged during the twentieth century.