Why do Nigerians shame women for aging? Is aging supposed to be a thing of shame? Should women hide their ages so as to please these busy bodies who lack manners?
Why is that when a Nigerian woman celebrates her birthday and states her age, some people will start mocking her?
You will see a beautiful birthday post if a beautiful woman and some men will go on her post to display their foolishness and lack of manners.
You will hear things like:
“At this age, you are not married. Menopause is calling your name.”
“You are not ashamed of yourself, instead of you to be celebrating your wedding, you are celebrating your birthday.”
“You are a shameless woman. You should stop telling people your real age. Look at your face. You don dey old.”
And then, there are women who also go on the post to show how dense and silly they are.
They will say:
“How can you say you are 35? You are older than you are trying to make people believe.”
“Look at the dress you are wearing. Is it befitting for a woman your age?”
“Your mates are celebrating having children and you are deceiving yourself with birthday photo shoots.”
“Pray to God to give you a good husband and start a family but stop telling strangers how old you are.”
Sighs….
Should a woman be ashamed of getting old?
Should a woman hide herself and stop celebrating her birthday?
Should a woman desist from celebrating her life because she’s not married and doesn’t have children?
Should a woman hide her face in shame for getting old?
Nollywood actress, Uche Jombo celebrated her 40th birthday yesterday and some people are saying she’s lying about her age.
One person called her age an audio age. Another person said she’s 59 claiming 40. Many people are just mad.
As a woman in this society, people will age shame you and calculate your worth with the things you haven’t achieved at your age.
Age shaming is real and happens more frequently than we acknowledge. We might not be able to change the attitude of age shamers, but we can certainly change the way we react to it.
