Lupita Nyong'o Our New Skin Whitening and Bleaching Ambassador

Lupita Nyong'o announced her ambassadorial contract with Lancome a French  cosmetics giant a few days ago and the whole black world went agog with the news. I found the information of Kola Boof's Facebook page but the first thing that came to my mind was "Cosmetics?" I decided to find more info about what they sell… A lot of products but hey! they sell bleaching and skin whitening creams… Hmm! why didn't our black skin activist notice that? Is it suddenly cool to bleach because Lupita is the new black face of Lancome or is it just so cool to compromise your standards as long as money is spoken?

I remember listening to the glistering speech of this dark and lovely Kenya Hollywood actress a few weeks ago and my head was getting great vibes as she told the tales of how she found real beauty on the dark golden skin of Alek, the Sudanese super model and how she prided in her own beauty black beauty from it. She expressed her struggles and even shared the story of that young girl who was about to get Dencia’s Whitenicious cream and how her own dark-skinned success changed the little girl dark golden skin story.  Her essence in that Essence speech was a grand stand against bleaching and whitening of dark skin, but here is another shade of the story she delivered for Lancome!

I was so sad to see scores of women that waged war against skin whitening and bleaching, women who plagued Nigeria because of Dencia’s Whitenicious roll out drums and gongs celebrating our new bleaching ambassador, Lupita. More money is involved I guess, so we can all compromise a little. The truth is Dencia was just doing business too and she wasn’t forcing anybody to buy or bleach, in fact, more people will buy Lancome skin toning, bleaching and whitening creams more than they did Whitnecious because it now carries a black identity. I think that's cool, bleaching gospel of a black Hollywood screen goddess rolling and not a hustler like Dencia or am I missing something here?

I am not in any way supporting skin bleaching, neither is my argument for Dencia any other bleacher or against our new bleaching ambassador Lupita, my question and concern is simple…

Where is Lupita’s essence? What will she tell that little girl now? 

“You can buy a bottle of the skin lightening cream but not the whitening one!” 

or she will tell the rest of us… 

“Don’t buy Lancome skinning toning products, they’ve didn’t tell me they sell bleaching and whitening creams in my contract”????

As far as I am concerned, Whitenicious and Lancome are two cosmetic companies selling similar products, one is just bigger with a wider range of product and the other is smaller and the business of a hustler trying to break big like other big cosmetic product company.  To shock you a little, Lancome started with five perfumes in 1935 and now the make not just perfumes, but skin damaging, skincare and makeup products. Whitenicious started with five types of skin damaging products, maybe in years to come they will make skincare products too #JustSaying

Talk Talk said this on the YouTube 

“Sad how she calls out the owner of Whitenicious "Dencia" on her Essence speech about selling bleaching and whitening creams. Which if I'm not wrong ; she stands against skin bleaching and being the new ambassadress for Lancome who makes and sells bleaching and whitening creams as well; she quite a hypocritic act for her. That tells the "little girl” who wanted to buy Whitenicious by Dencia that, hey when there is money involve forget your believes and go with the money. I wonder what she is thinking right now.”

But there are hypocrites like me who thinks it’s cool as long as you are big like Lancome.

Newley67 said

“most companies sell bleaching creams but not everyones intent is the same as Dencia's as in to completely change shades.. If used correctly and sparingly it can helping with bruising and scarring from things such as acne marks.. I’m just saying.”

Maybe Lupita is just with the Lip-gloss section like Emma Watson who is just the face of Lancome new lipstick range "Rouge In Love". One thing I've come to realize is that we are humans in the least and the truth is, we are quick to preach what is working for us, forgetting who we are and what we really stand for.

Lupita was never an anti-bleaching agent, in fact, she confessed to giving in to the thought of bleaching at some point but won the battle when Alek the Sudanese supermodel showed up on her screen. I am still 100% in love with Lupita the actress but anytime she speaks about life and principles, I beg the world to watch and remember that she's only acting, she doesn't mean what she's saying, it's only a script. My anger is however with those men and women who blindly follow trend and pretend to have value while they truly don't, they stand where the crowd stand... 

Yesterday it was anti-bleaching and anti-gay law and they screamed at the top of their lungs without reasoning, shouting Nigeria, Dencia et al… Today it's Lupita the screen goddess and even if she goes porno, they will tell you her job requires friction and showing a lot more skin… Tomorrow they will be there to carry guns and sickles to bury whoever or praise whatever as long as it's up there, somewhere in the news. 

We must define what we stand for and be ready to stick with our gospel all the time. Nas once said he will never preach the gospel of alcohol but he goes around with a bottle Hennessey now even if he's going to the White House. Money Made Men Mad?

Before you say I am Pro or Anti XZY (product, people or value), ask yourself "Will I still stick with my gun even on death ground?" If your answer is no, abeg shut your trap and let the crowd screams and moan all they want. As for me, I am forever against Rape, Bleaching, Drug Abuse, Prostitution and Corruption aka PDP… don't tempt me with ministerial appointment though, I don't trust myself because the scripture says I shouldn't.

I'm Abidemi Babaolowo Oderinlo

I Read What I Need, Write What I Like and Act What I Write

Tweets from @enyola

She Said No!

Poetic Justice to rape by @ceefour

She said no
It meant no, and not yes
You grabbed her hair
And tore her dress.
And bruised her flesh.
What you didn't know
Was the gaping hole you left in her soul.
What you didn't know...


Daddy was never around
Mother said he was in heaven
Grandma said he was in hell
Years ago, like you today
Violence had conceived you
Your mothers freedom to choose
Taken from her.
Bruised. Humiliated. Denied. Abandoned. Then you.


She would swear she taught you better.
Respect. Especially for a woman's choice.
Self-control. Because that is how men ruled the world.
Love. Because it isn't forceful, nor violent and never about sex.


She said no.
It meant no, and not yes.
You grabbed her hair
And tore her dress.
And the demon, the hate, the evil
That conceived you
Was in manifest.
How do you look at yourself in the mirror and not cringe?
There are guns, and knives.
Then there is your penis, and your mind.

She said no. It meant no. And not yes.

#SayNoToRape Day5

Written by Caleb Olorunmaiye

@_ceefour

I Was Raped!

#SayNoToRape Day4

This a true life story!!!

********

My name is Efe and I finished from UNIBEN. That's all I will be willing to share on this platform as I crave my anonymity.

Where do I begin from? I am a rape victim and now .....

It all started some few years ago while I was seeking admission into the tertiary. I was eager and full of life. I had a friend that our relationship is purely platonic because I surely have a feeling most guys are interested in the triangle between my legs.

Let's call his name Jeff. He was cute and easy going, and has a way with words. He carry himself in an aristocratic way and commands respect of student because of his air of superiority he evoke. Ummm, am I eulogizing him? Far be it from me. I am just saying the obvious. I lost contact with him when he eventually gained admission into the university.

I went for pre-degree but eventually wasn't good enough for the admission because I was carried away by the liberty just trusted unto me unbidden. I lost focus and fail woefully.

Thank God for another year JAMB opportunity. I sat for the exam and passed. I got admitted into UNIBEN and wow my dream of studying Industrial microbiology becomes a reality.

I was staying with my God-mother until when I will be able to put my foot on ground. The day for my matriculation soon came and I was buzzing with happiness. I was still intact and untouched below the belt, you get my gist! A vir....

My godmother soon got a call from home and she ran home immediately without sharing in my joyful celebration. "Tsack! Such is life" , I sigh in Ibadan accent.

I am not a particularly party person but I was overjoyed to see Jeff in same school with me and especially as a "staylite". We gisted and talked for most of the day after the matriculation and he insisted in following me to my off campus hostel.

He stayed put even when the hour was getting late. I urged him to leave but he shrug, what are you afraid of? He said for the umpteenth time and I relaxed.

He slept on the couch, my temporary sleeping space while I make do with my godmother's bed in her absence.

In the middle of the night, I was dreaming about the long soothing conversation with a friend from the past. I felt the presence even before the touch, I saw another Jeff with sweat glistering his forehead, eyes bulging with animalistic desire and his third leg threatening to burst the seams of his trouser. His hands were groping everything under my dress without invitation. I open my mouth to scream but in a flash he stuff some clothing into opened mouth.

I pleaded and whimper but Jeff tore off my undies and with carefulness of a pervert thrust his bulging manhood into me, tearing my fragile hymen and taking away my innocence with it.

Every thrust with damaged my self-worth, dignity and every iota of my personality. After the damage done, he looked at me like a trash and whipped his bloody flaccid member on my lacy white and shredded panties. Leaving me with the damaged ego and damaged panties.

I refused to tell anyone but the scar of the event and the damage done to my psyche is irreparable. I avoided men like plague but that also couldn't heal or help me.

Six months down the line, he came begging me that it was the devil's work and that he love me blah blah blah. His sweet nonsense was irritating me but I played along because I have my well planned and thought out revenge package for him. I agree to date him but guess what? Revenge is sweet when served cold.

******
As I keep saying, any man that rape a woman is less than an animal because in their wretchedness they don't RAPE. I stand up against all forms of domestic violence and rape.

Isaacola AA
@newnaija on twitter

Rape & The blame game

A popular saying goes “a problem shared is half solved.” Yes!

But a heart bottled in the pain of humiliation can never know

peace. The issue of rape is that which is discussed and shared

amongst us, but yet without the simplest solution.

This is very perturbing, and thus has sounded the alarm within

us to keep on speaking till we can reduce or inhibit this violence

and ungodly act.

Let us not fold our arms and watch our ‘PRIDE’ being trampled

upon and tormented without giving it a fight.

Rape is fiercer than a civil war, yet if we must win this battle,

we must fight with our heart and not watch on.

#Bloggersville presents.

“The pain of a withered rose, a

trumpet for war.”

#SayNoToRape Day III

Are Rape Victims To Blame For Their Predicament?

YES Because:

By dressing provocatively, being promiscuous, encouraging male attention with overt flirting and teasing, drinking excessively and by knowingly placing themselves in situations where they can be attacked like walking a deserted path home, some women consciously place themselves in danger of being sexually assaulted and are partly to blame.

To use a common comparison, if a man walks down a dark alley in a rough neighborhood with his money clip out, or engaging in other ostentatious displays of wealth, would we say he was completely without responsibility if he were robbed? We would likely conclude that while it was not his fault, and while he did not deserve it, he does bear some responsibility for putting himself in such a situation. On the other hand, he might be robbed in his driveway.

Similarly, the fact that some women are raped in circumstances in which they bear no responsibility does not absolve others who put themselves at risk of bearing some small amount of responsibility.

NO Because:

If it were true that the fashion of the day was the reason for the rape of women – then how could it be that rape exists in countries where women are not dressing according to western
fashions? Does every attractive young woman become a victim of rape? No that it is not a logical reason to suggest that Rape Victims are partly to blame. What could we say of an elderly woman or man who is raped by those who commit these crimes?

The reality is that no woman or man is going to knowingly place themselves in a situation of seeking rape. But there are many who are raped because of other situations – such as not being able to afford safe public transport – having no option but to walk a lonely path home. Sure there are cases where the social situation seems to contribute but it is not the environment but the rapist who commits the crime.

The affirmative argument has but one purpose to allow rapists and those who sympathize with them the opportunity to feel as the victims of a crime. Feeling encouraged or in a good position to commit a crime isn’t an excuse to commit a crime.

YESBecause:

A victim should fight their rapist or try to resist, as if they didn’t they could have been seen as consenting or consenting at the time and regretting it later on. If rape is about violence and control and not about sex then there should be evidence of injury on the victim. When the victim does not fight back then they should be considered partly to blame.

NOBecause:

This is a very common myth both in popular thinking or rape and in the criminal justice system. If a victim does not fight back or if there is a lack of injuries on their body then this is not a sign they need to take some responsibility for what happened. Many victims submit to the violence and control for fear that they will be harmed further or killed if they resist or try to fight back.

For victims it can just be about surviving the attack. A lack of injuries does not mean the assumption must be they consented.

YESBecause:

The notion that rape is a crime that is about power rather than sex is to look at the issue solely from the victim’s point of view. If we wish to understand the phenomenon in its entirety, we must also look at it from the perpetrators point of view.

There are clearly many ways in which a violent individual may express violent tenancies that do not involve rape. Football hooliganism would be one example. That a rapist chooses rape instead of these other means, suggests that for them, rape IS about sex as well as power.

If we are to offer effective advice to people on how to protect themselves and minimize the possibility of themselves becoming victims: we must recognise the sexual dimension of the crime and tailor our advice accordingly. This includes encouraging people not to engage in behaviour which is liable to make them more vulnerable or more attractive to a potential predator.

NOBecause:

The idea that a rape victim can be partly to blame is based on the idea that once aroused the rapist can no longer control themselves. Study has shown this to be untrue and completely ignores the point that rape is about violence and control and not about the act of sex.

There you have it… What’s your thought on this issue? Join the debate, leave comments below.

Written by Glowville

www.glowville.wordpress.com

@glow_ville