Ability to cook shouldn’t be prerequisite for choosing a partner —Shawttynatt

Adebukola Aminat Wahab, popularly known as Shawttynatt, is a woman that has parts in many fields. She is the Creative Lead of Shawttynatt Media Africa; founder of Shawttynatt Consumables, co-owner of Ofada factory, the co-author of social media as a business tool and an influencer. She speaks with YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE on time management and women leadership among other issues

As a woman, how do you push all you do without being overwhelmed especially as an influencer who faces toxicity on social media regularly?

I am great at time management and that helps me perform optimally both in my personal life and professional life. I also think being a mum and an entrepreneur helps you develop great multitasking skills that in turn helps you manage your life perfectly.

Peace is also very important to me so I tune out toxicity from my life whether online or offline.

I make peace with my self by understanding that no matter how perfect you are, there will always be people who come for your name, your brand and your entire existence so I am not hesitant to unfollow and block events and people who interfere with my mental health.

Some condemn women who outsource food for family like soup etc as irresponsible. What is your view on this?

I don’t think the ability or availability to cook should even be a prerequisite for choosing a partner in this day and age as long as it can be conveniently sorted out between both sides. Times have changed. If your woman  brings other substantial values into your home, requiring her to cook all the time would be selfish. Unless it is something she enjoys doing. If it works for you and your partner, I don’t think there’s a problem with it.

Some believe that many young women today are lazy and looking for soft landing. Do you agree?

There’s always a side to every story but I do not totally agree to this. I believe that young women especially in our society of today are becoming more resourceful and challenging themselves to be more and do more. Yes, you will find those who are looking for soft landing and also find those who are breadwinners, entrepreneurs, experts in their fields as well. So I think it is an unfair thing to say that many young women today are lazy and looking for soft landing.

If you check our society, you will find that there are always people who posses these traits and are not defined by their gender.

Can women be good leaders?

Of course. Women who make good leaders do so because of their unique blend of abilities and creative viewpoints. More significantly, female leaders bring to the table structural and cultural differences that help to create workable solutions. They will be able to examine and unearth the smaller nuances that others would overlook, thanks to their original perspective and distinct sense of awareness.

How can women prove their worth and be seen beyond cheer leaders and sex objects?

As a woman, you must discover a method to express the value you add by genuinely taking responsibility for both your achievements and shortcomings in a manner that is true to you. If you have a work history of any kind whether you have failed or succeeded, the issue is how well you utilise these experiences to improve your career. The ability to explain this fully, with assurance and conviction in your unbreakable manner, as a result of owning both, develops a depth of awareness and is what makes you fascinating and helps you conman respect as someone who provides value.

What do you think about the general belief that attributes a woman’s success to sexual promiscuity and assistance from men?

I think this is largely due to the widespread objectification of women which is absolutely wrong. Viewing another person as an object, or less than fully human, is fundamentally an act of denying that a person has mental abilities and moral status and I think this is very offensive to women who are generally very ambitious and hardworking.

From increasing women’s representation in leadership and decision-making to redistributing care-work and productive resources, It helps us progress towards a gender equal future where people of both genders have equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities and the success of a woman is not seen as being a result of promiscuity and assistance from men.

Are women supporting women?

I believe that there are numerous women supporting women out there but it can be better.

We need to collectively reverse the stereotype that women don’t support other women. There is research that shows women in particular benefit from collaboration over competition.

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Study after study has also shown that  women who support women are more successful in business so we have everything to gain by showing support to one another.

How do you stand on your principles and identify women with similar purpose to work with?

I constantly remind myself of my beliefs and what I stand for and then I consciously make efforts towards keeping to them and allowing them judge my actions and the kind of work I do:

I have always believed that the more clearly you recognize who you do not want to be, then, the clearer your sense of identity and purpose will be and this helps me seek and identify women with similar purpose and values for collaboration.

 How can women stand up to bullies on social media?

Social-media bullying is extremely serious and harsh, often resulting in psychological harm to women.

Reporting and blocking the bully’s present and future accounts on social media is always a great first step to take so I always advise women to first, block the person and report the harassment online. Most social media sites have a way to report abuse—and bullying definitely counts as abuse.

We also need to stand up for ourselves by speaking up whenever you see someone being cyber bullied.