Toke Makinwa: Why are successful women still subjected to sexual slurs?
‘There is an agelong stereotype that limits the success of women to the assumption that a woman cannot have it rosy without an alpha male’.
The recent viral report of the seizure of a Banana Island mansion allegedly belonging to celebrity on-air personality (OAP), Toke Makinwa, by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), has once again brought to the fore this agelong act of tearing down women who don’t fit societal norms.
Unverified reports went viral on the internet on Monday July 27 claiming that the Ikoyi home of the Influencer-OAP was one of the assets recently seized by AMCON over a N240 million debt owed by an oil magnate Festus Fadeyi who had previously been romantically linked with Makinwa.
Spokesperson for AMCON, Jude Uwauzor, told Neusroom on Thursday July 30 that the reports are rumours.
“I didn’t even know Toke Makinwa until I started seeing the report,” Uwauzor says, in a telephone conversation with a Neusroom correspondent. “I don’t know where she lives. I only know AMCON seized assets belonging to people owing the federal government.”
Neusroom findings revealed that Toke Makinwa lives on Bank road in Ikoyi and not Banana Island as claimed in the viral reports which have all now been recanted.
Across the world, women in showbiz and politics appear to bear most of the brunt of sexual slurs popularly known as ‘slut shaming’. This is believed to be due to their personality as public figures but Makinwa’s case appears to be extraordinary. The 35-year-old media personality is not new to reputational controversies; she must have developed a very thick skin following the frequent trolling and vile criticisms she faces on the internet subjecting her success to constant scrutiny.
Despite the advocacy for the involvement of more women in politics, cases of sexism from their political opponents, fellow women and the broader society remains a major impediment, discouraging many from getting involved. Even on campuses, female students who dare to challenge the male dominance in student union elections are slut-shamed.
“In many, if not most or all cultures around the world, to varying degrees, there is still an ingrained sexism and misogyny against women,” Phillipine Senator Risa Hontiveros said in 2019 after she was attacked on Twitter for “dressing like a thirsty slut”
Those who use their talent in the showbiz and become successful in what they do are torn apart with sexist assumptions. The women in the corporate world are not spared either – any woman who dares to do the unusual must have gotten the power to challenge the status quo through the support of a man. That’s the general belief across the world.
Social media has made slut shaming increasingly powerful, anyone with a mobile phone with internet access can hurl sexual slur at any woman and get as much as 1000 retweets from like-minded people.
When Hontiveros was criticised over her dress, she hit back, and told her troll “stop telling women how to dress.” Her clapback received support on the internet as many netizens across the world solidarised with her.
Veteran Nollywood stars – Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde have had their share of the sore grape of slut shaming. In April 2019, an erratic supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari slut shamed Omotola for daring to demand for good governance. The President’s Personal Assistant, Bashir Ahmed, also joined the criticism by ridiculing the actress’ source of income. Her crime? She asked for a better Nigeria just like every other Nigerian.
In 2016 when some members of the Ondo State House of Assembly led by Olamide George, an overly ambitious young lawmaker, were desperate to oust Jumoke Akindele, a brilliant lawyer who became the first female Speaker of the State House of Assembly, their grouse against her as seen in their press release was ‘drunkenness and easy virtue’. The impeachment plot was not about her competence, they wanted to remove her based on the assumption that she was promiscuous. It took the intervention of the then governor before the impeachment move was halted.
Meanwhile all the 18 men who signed the press release would see ‘drunkenness’ and their sexual prowess as confirmation of their masculinity – “you’re not a real man if you don’t drink and womanize” is a popular saying among men. Women who dare to try such legitimacy are condemned to promiscuity and labelled uncultured and wayward.
A former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili has also accused popular advocate Segun Awosanya aka Segalink of slut shaming her on Twitter in 2014 during the advocacy for the release of Chibok school girls.
Recently, when the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, was accused of corrupt practices by a former acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Joy Nunieh, the minister abandoned the accusations and resorted to slut shaming his accuser.
Slut Shaming women is not new and not peculiar to Nigeria, Toke Makinwa is not the first and will not be the last to be subjected to such devastating slur but many Nigerians who frown at the act have argued that there is a need to take actions that will limit the trend.
“When a man challenges authority, no one accuses him of sleeping around, even if that’s his secondary trade. When a woman challenges authority, she is accused of sleeping around, irrespective of her status or the advocacy she professes. Patriarchy’s last line of defense,” Japhet Omojuwa tweeted.
Many have also commended women who no longer sit back to be labelled sex objects but are now pushing back.
Toke Makinwa has also decided to reclaim her story by fighting back. She has threatened a lawsuit against the newspaper that ‘broke’ what is now turning out to be a false report.
In a letter by her lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), seen by Neusroom, the OAP demanded that the report be taken down and an apology be published across the platform’s communication channels.
Neusroom could not reach Toke for reaction, her assistant who picked her call said she is not available to speak.
Now that she has taken the battle to the doorstep of the originator of the report, it is hoped that the move will reduce sexism against influential and ordinary women and also embolden other women who have been a subject of sexist remarks to fight back.
Makinwa rose to national prominence from hosting ‘The Morning Drive’ on Rhythm 93.7 FM and has become more popular for her YouTube vlog series – ‘Toke Moments’, which has made her the centrepiece of social media wrath.
With a career spanning over a decade, the English and Literature graduate from the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has carved a niche for herself in the media and showbiz business. Makinwa is not just about talking and hosting shows, in the last eight years, she has been an ambassador for brands like – Payporte, Ciroc, United Africa Company of Nigeria, Nestlé Nigeria as the face of ‘Maggi’ and the face of Mecran Cosmetics. In 2019 she landed another deal as brand ambassador of Oppo Mobile.
She also owns a handbag brand launched in 2017 under her label – Toke Makinwa Luxury. She also runs a skincare product business – Glow by TM launched in 2018. Combined, all these are enough to rake in eight figures for her annually, positioning her as one of the biggest earners in Nigeria’s media and showbiz business.
Through her platform, she pushes narratives on marital and relationship issues which has endeared her to many young ladies in search of role models. She has also thrown up conversations that have earned her more criticisms and made her a subject of internet trolling – like advising ladies in their early 20s to have one-night stands and kiss strangers.
In the last one year, the ‘Baby Girl for Life’, as she calls herself, has been more forthcoming about finding love again after her failed marriage to a fitness coach. “No matter what life has thrown at me, I am still a ‘hopeless romantic.’ I cannot wait to fall hopelessly and madly in love. I love love. Hopefully it loves me back, someday,” she wrote on Instagram on Tuesday May 26, 2020.
