Mojisola Sylvia Delano is a full time media practitioner, digital marketer, communications strategist, reputation manager, online publicist, website developer and the brain behind SMD Media, publishers of MojiDelano.com. In this interview with YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE, she speaks about life as a blogger in Nigeria, women in leadership, 35 percent affirmative action and sundry issues
How easy is it to be a female blogger especially based on the toxicity of social media?
Being a female in any industry, especially male dominated fields has its merits and demerits. Online Journalism is not left out. With over a decade in the media industry, the biggest challenge that I still face is still pay gap. Many men still tend to earn more than women do. Agreed, there are many women who have excelled in digital media industry, but the pay gap still remains. There is also sexual harassment, which again is not synonymous to media but in the work place as a whole. I have had to over the years learn to tactically, and professional manage advances from men in positions of power, and even had to let go of some jobs and opportunities because I didn’t want to compromise. It can be tough if you’re ambitious but once you set a standard for yourself and work hard, word will spread that you only deal professionally and people will come to respect you for that.
In terms of toxicity, I haven’t experienced it based on gender. However generally, there’s a level of toxicity that one must endure while running a news platform because there will be times certain news will not be palatable to people regardless of whether or not it is true. Media practitioners must understand this and make their peace with it.
Do you think there’s a restriction on women in the professional circle in Nigeria?
I don’t think there’s a restriction per se, even though by virtue of their sex, women have to cut through the thick grasses of harassment, gender bias, pay gap, keeping their homes, despite working as hard as their male counterpart, sometimes even more, to emerge successful. Nigeria is no exception.
Should marital status be a criteria for measuring women’s success?
Capital letter NO. Marriage is a choice. It doesn’t define or make any one, male or female. Same with having children. If we look through history, none of the greatest women documented to have lived are remembered because of marriage or the number of children they had.
Even today, the most renowned women like Alice Walton, Oprah, Ellen, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, Maya Angelou, Viola Davis etc are known for their craft, impact, talent etc. Don’t get me wrong, marriage, kids are a beautiful thing. But the notion that it defines a woman or that it should be a criteria to measuring success is preposteruous. In 50, 100 years time when people talk about the past, it will be about impact that was made not marriage, or number of biological children made.
What is your view on the 35 per cent affirmative action?
I am of the view that whether in Nigeria or elsewhere, people should be voted because they can do the job or at least show that they have the potential to from their track record. However in a country like Nigeria where due process is hardly ever followed, election malpractice is rife, and qualified women either do not have the wherewithal to contest or are given conditions tantamount to selling their souls to the devil, the 35% affirmative action is necessary. The sad thing though is Nigeria is not ready to adopt it. Women despite the rigours of the workplace have through hardwork and dedication being able to claw their way up the corporate ladder in the country. Men have done it all these years and have not done the best job so far. More women need to be encouraged and supported to go into politics.
What’s your opinion about women in politics?
Like I suggested above, I am absolutely for it. I am of the view that if women had same level playing field as men, they would excel remarkably and do well in politics. But they need to be supported for this to happen. Women already do a lot; managing work, family and the home front, and for them to add politics to the mix, it must come it a lot of support from the home front. Naturally, political waters are very murky. Comes with a lot of propaganda, threats, etc, that if a woman, especially one who is married and has a family does not have the full support of her husband and family on the home front, it would be an almost impossible feat.
How can women stand up to bullies?
For anyone to stand up to bullies, one must be self aware, knowing that what a person says or does is their opinion and a reflection of who they are and doesn’t define you. Same applies to women in dealing with bullies. From time to time, people, especially men will try to undermine you. The way to respond is first of all refusing to take offence. Not taking offence comes from a place of self awareness, knowing that the action of a bully is a reflection of who they are. So stand your ground refusing to cower, be assertive, and insist on what you believe in. This can all be done best when you don’t take offence, but instead objectively consider the situation and react from a place of contemplation and awareness.
Are women supporting women?
Yes. The notion that women don’t support women in my opinion is a myth, or at least not the norm. In the course of my career I have had a lot of women support, help, and pull me up. I have in turn payed it forward. I can say same for a lot of people in my circle too. In fact, I haven done small research on this, randomly asking young women the people who have being instrumental in their lives, and their answers were mostly women who are not family that they met along the way. Some other people may sadly have different experiences but this is my take.
What do you think about the general belief that attributes a woman’s success to sexual promiscuity and assistance from men?
This notion is mostly rooted in chauvinism and mysogyny. If sexual promiscuity were the yardstick for success, then perhaps commercial sex work would be the most lucrative job for women in the world. This is clearly not the case.
It’s sad that once a woman is successful, especially in a male dominated field, it’s common that she starts to get disparaged with mostly unfounded accusations pointing to sexual promiscuity. This is something that we need to discourage as a society.
I’m not saying all women are saints. Things happen. But there are many successful women out there who bootstrapped their way through life and worked very hard to achieve all they have. I for one can only attribute my success so far to God, my parents, great friends who have believed in me, supported me and rooted for me all the way.
