There is this general unwritten assumption in my clime that as a woman, having a bleached or fair skin, big butt and an eye-catching figure means that you have a first class ticket to success. Successful in what? That, I never know.

If as a woman you think that having some big butt, succulent breasts and over-the-top figure is an asset, I am sorry but you’re a collateral joke! A very, very big bad joke! . Please, Please! Your anatomy is not an asset. But your ability to put yourself to use, to harness your natural or unnatural dispositions and endowments determines how much of an asset you are. In other words, if you have a big butt, good looks and a fine figure and you cannot be creative with yourself or put your mind to work for you, then you might as well give that big ass to horses that men may ride on them.

We have women who made imprints on the sands of time and who are still breaking barriers; ass and boobs got nothing to do with their achievements. Yes, they had ass and boobs, but it is not responsible for their trend setting achievements. Their thinking ability and planned ambitions did. We see them in the field of Sciences, Education, Military, Politics, Government, Business, Entertainment, Fashion, Literature, etc just to mention a few.

This is especially directed at the South Sudanese girls. Bleaching your skin to turn white, because you think that it will make a rich man marry you, which in turn means success to you, is a great delusion from the lecture halls of self-hate and myopia. It is very stupid and small minded to bleach your skin because you want to “catch” men or men should follow you. Life is bigger than man pleasing, man that, man must marry me. You are bigger than that kind of demeaning ideology. Your life must not revolve about men. There is more to you than those senile thoughts of wearing this and that, owning big ass and big boobs to be spotted by a man. That is totally useless! Why look for a rich man when you can make yourself become rich and men will come to you?

All over the world, women are scholars, inventors, military chiefs, heads of states and governments, industrialists, captains of large firms, super-chefs, scientists, seasoned bankers, investors, influencers, etc and they did not use a big butt or bleaching cream to achieve them. Tell me, are they different from you? Is their butt bigger than yours? Or they used some kind of special bleaching cream you cannot afford? The answer is simple, they recognize their worth, they refused to be puerile in their mindset. They used their heads and put their minds and creativity to work. You can do it also. Be that kind of a woman and men will bow at your feet. Women who bleach their skins for men, bow for men. Unless you enjoy being insulted and bowing to men, you can choose to continue in your myopia.

(By Ade, a South Sudanese poet and lyricist based in Kampala, Uganda)