Nigerian Twitter is a particularly scary place to visit. The freedom to tweet 140 characters of carefully worded personal insults intended to hurt the recipient and elicit retweets and laughs from virtual bystanders is a right bequeathed to us all by the founders of Twitter.
And as we Nigerians are wont to do; we have loud, overzealous and brash opinions on every subject matter on the face of the earth. Sometimes, the message gets lost in the frenzy of drawing up retweet-worthy sentences.
Young black girls now being further encouraged to aspire to be sluts/hoes/sex workers. $8m to be a hoe evangelist? Wake up people!!!
— Lanre eLDee Dabiri (@eLDeeTheDon) October 2, 2016
Cue Eldee and social media this morning. As it is his own right to vent, he sent out a series of tweets that expressed his fears for the dearth of positive role models for children generally, and his daughters in particular. In the process of stating this valid fear, he exposed perhaps his lack of understanding for the subject matter- or worse still, a revisionism Donald Trump would be proud of.
As a rapper who has had to deal with female entertainers at a certain point in his life, his blanket term for Amber Rose whom he described as ‘hoe’ reeks of hypocrisy, especially when this post of his from 2013 ‘magically’ resurfaced.
@BankyW I wish I was in Lagos to be ur unofficial assistant co-host. Jus to get a glimpse at Amber’s dunk in real life. Bbpic every 5mins!!
— Lanre eLDee Dabiri (@eLDeeTheDon) June 30, 2011
He is correct that one can count on one hand successful female celebrities that are projected by society in contrast to those who don’t fit the mould of a Beyonce – who made ‘Bootylicious’ an acceptable term to describe a woman’s bottom and who made a sexually explicit song with her husband (who in turn referred to her as ‘hot bitch’).
The two of them have a young daughter who might not understand Daddy and Mummy’s lyrics now but will certainly blush when she’s in her teens. Same for Kim Kardashian and Amber Rose. So it is perfectly understandable when a young father, who raises his two young daughters in that society where all of these things are routine, is worried about it.
On the other hand, slut-shaming is a real problem for many women across the world. Most of the things that are dismissed as ‘boys being boys’ are seen as a vice in women.
Kim Kardashian is hated because her claim to fame is a sex tape she made with her then boyfriend, Ray J; who sold it to a porn company. She was a victim of that matter.
Similarly, Amber Rose has been dragged ceaselessly for being a sexy woman who dated Kanye West before marrying and divorcing Wiz Khalifa. Her only sin is embracing the ‘slut’ label she has been referred to. Her Slut Walk Festival does not celebrate loose morals as the name might imply, rather it actually is a foundation that helps thousands of young women deal with the stigma of rape, find treatment and counselling for rape victims while advocating gender equality.
If Amber Rose were an Oxford graduate and didn’t wear ‘provocative’ dresses, she’ll probably be a panellist at the United Nations General Assembly. No shade.
Therefore, Eldee’s otherwise understandable concern for the world might not have caused a ruckus if he didn’t refer to any woman as a ‘hoe’. That is an offensive term that he should know not to use. It carries the same gravity as ‘nigger’ and hasn’t been helped by hip hop’s penchant for casual misogyny.
However, slut-shaming does not merely end in name-calling; Eldee inadvertently suggests that whatever success Amber or Kim might achieve, it’s a result of them being a ‘hoe’. Nothing is farther from the truth. As he may very well know, there is no one way to attain success. Some people go to school, others become actors and some may become successful hip hop artistes that Eldee himself will emulate.
Nevertheless, the speed at which Nigerian Twitter users attack all divergent views to theirs is appalling, and our quickness to discredit any individual on account of a one-off incident is astounding. We seem to live for these moments. It entertains us to no end.
Twitter is here to put a dent on whatever idea of morality you have. Twitter is here to reconstruct your constructs. Don’t sound stupid
— michael (@hemical) October 2, 2016
That “they are shoving gay stuff down our throat” argument people make about Hollywood is annoying.
Its not by force to watch TV so shut up.— Legal Hermit (@The_LegalHermit) October 2, 2016
Your girls will grow up & be fine. Probably in spite of, rather than because of, your parenting. And if they’re not…no be Amber cause am.
— Rainbow Heart (@TheLoulette) October 2, 2016
Offline, this behaviour is tantamount to that of a lynch mob. It’s is perfectly okay to have a different opinion. It is also okay to be factually wrong on issues. It is not okay to mob any individual based on what they tweet. The virtual gang-up on Eldee is scary, just as his casual slut-shaming is dangerous even to those daughters of his that he’s protecting.
Eldee that sold “Sai Baba” to his fans but quickly relocated abroad (I hear) as recession entered, is now looking for who to advise? #Oloshi
— Mr Stanley Nwabia (@MrStanleyNwabia) October 2, 2016
We all must do better.