Growing up in the 90's and comparing it to now, its so funny how things have changed. So I will be listing out my Once Upon A Time moments and comparing it to the present.
- Once upon a time, bleaching was synonymous to illiteracy. It was only the iya onigos, iya eleja, iya eleran, iya ata that bleached. Now, I see babes with good education even with MBA's bleaching. Is it that they dint know that bleaching causes skin cancer or that bleaching your skins, will not bleach your genes?
- Once upon a time, when you clocked 21, your parents threw a party for you, it involved rented canopies, food cooked by a slightly obese woman who thinks her size is good marketing for her catering skills and Yinka Ayefele's music playing in the background, with cakes shaped in '21' or a Bible, with scriptures like you are the light of the world inscribed on it and covered with pink icing depending on your gender. Now thanks to Instagram, you see hash tags like #turndownke #nikini #forwhat #birthdaywithmylovelies. I cant help but think out loud, who pays for this birthday dinners, the celebrant or everyone pays for their own food? Did I beg to be invited? Don't we all miss the days of attending parties with steaming jollof rice, coleslaw and stewed beef?
- When you or your parents are going on a trip, you never told anyone, we were made to believe that it was bad omen. No thanks to instagram and twitter, when you are at the airport, you twitpic your passport with an hash-tag that says #iamoutpeople #greenpassport #nigerian, and when they arrive there you share a picture with you having a meal at a restaurant and tag it #fromdubaiwithlove.
- In secondary school, people like me who liked food were uncool, especially if you were a girl, if you wrinkled your nose at the sight of food, you were a cool kid. Its either you were called a glutton, eleibi oshi or even obiagaeli. Now there is a fancy name for them, its called foodie..
- The side chicks covered their faces in shame, they lived in constant fear, that the main chic will bathe her with acid. But now, we have an entire series, Scandal and Being Mary Jane, dedicated to them. They spend 40-45 mins justifying why being, the side chick is okay because the ratio of men to women is 1:60. At the moment, the side chicks have re-branded themselves they are no longer needy and jobless women who are at the beck and call of her man. The side chicks look glamorous, they have careers that are to die for, look at Olivia Pope, you cant even hate on her without feeling like a bad person.
- Braids were called Bob Marley, Iyabeji even called it attachment, now its called box braids or Marley braids.
- Low cut and natural hair was for Christian conservatives, now they call it the 'big chop' and they tag themselves naturalistas. Pleated skirts, turtle necks, high necklines were also for them, now its simply called vintage.
- Ankara was not associated with affluence, it was only lace. Ankara just looked sad, it was mainly used for burial, woe betide you if you used it as the asoebi for your wedding, na only you go wear am. The fancy name is now 'tropical or african prints'..
Share your once in a while moments with me, in the comment session below..
Love,
Ifeoma N.
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