Stranger on Beyoncé’s internet: You are difficult na. Take it easy
Me: You’ve barely known me for 10 minutes and you concluded that. I’m dead. I noticed that TJ is the only mutual friend we have. How did you come across my profile again?
Stranger: Can you relax please? Let’s talk about me and you. Am not a kid
Me: Say na relax. I was just curious. Oh you’re not a kid? Well you have a baby face
Stranger: PLEASE RELAX. Bondi if you want to be difficult I will back off
Me: erm watch your tone cause I wasn’t even being serious
Stranger: Don’t be dif. You’re so use to guys bowing at your feet pleasing you or aying yes to everything you do or say yea but it’s quite unfortunate I don’t do such I only respect you but you don’t respect me you carry yourself like a god which is very bad
(word for word)
Me: Lol wow
Stranger: Yes. I hate it when a lady talk anyhow
Me: Let me make your life easier for you. I’m going to erase the past 30 minutes so it was that you never met me. I don’t know you from anywhere and then you come in my Dm and talk to me disrespectfully. If you can’t take a joke, that’s too bad. I’m always silly when chatting, unfortunately you can’t see that. Not that I see what you’re going on about. Anyways take care.
Stranger: Very bad my dear. You are not even pretty. Nasty gal
*Hits the Block button*
The maledacity I had to put up with a few weeks ago. The funny thing about this day was, a friend had sent me a tweet from another girl who shared some man being a nuisance in her DMs a day before. He asked me how often I got those kinds of DMs and I said to him I hadn’t gotten such in a while. The universe saw our interaction and said, “Hold my beer”. Then this happens the next day. It went from 0-100 so quick; all I could do was laugh. I took screenshots of our conversation, hid his handle and shared on twitter with the caption
“LMAO I think the universe decided I needed a little bit of stressing. Because what is this nonsense?”
Instantly my friends started replying and laughing at the interaction, most people emphasizing the “You are not even pretty. Nasty gal” bit. The name eventually stuck and I even changed my twitter name to ‘Nasty Gal”. I’m not sure whether he thought those words were going to hurt me or why he even felt the need to say them. For me, I took it and I ran with it. First of all, you can’t come and tell someone who is confident in herself what she is or isn’t. My name literally means ‘the beautiful one’ and while I may not be the most beautiful woman out there, my parents validated me a long time ago when they spoke that name over me. Try again stranger on Beyonce’s internet. And while we’re addressing looks, I wonder, was it not the same face that attracted you enough to follow me and slide in my DMs? Pffft.
I would never understand why men feel the need to put you down when they’ve been rejected. It’s a common practice especially on the streets. Almost every woman can attest to a time when she was catcalled or touched inappropriatel in public to get attention and when she shot him down it went from“kssssss fine geh”, “eyys baby” “omalichan’wa” “baby geh this your nkebe supa” to “msheeeeeewn you no even fine sef” “see how you brief” “nonsense is it because I’m trying to talk to you”. Such fragile egos. Pfft. I’m no sociologist, psychologist or even here to try to breakdown why men are the way they are. Not today.
Today, I’m here for you beautiful queens, to remind you of the power you possess just by existing
So powerful men feel threatened when they can’t control you
So powerful men have gone to war for your kind
So powerful they fear your voice and try to shut you up
So powerful God entrusted you with the ability to create life
So powerful your body does things that men can’t even fathom
So powerful that you should never shrink yourself to accommodate another man’s small ego
So deserving of love
So deserving of joy
So full of beauty you don’t need someone else to even tell you that
As I once saw on Instagram
“You are gold, baby, solid gold”
I also dedicate the poem, “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou to you. It’s a beautiful read and I hope the words heal your soul. A good friend of mine made a painting inspired by this poem; Stephanie Unaeze. Check her out on Instagram: @stephanie.unaeze and her website: https://stephanieunaeze.com/.
