| 👋 Good morning. There's no light in Nigeria. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration - but electricity is currently at abysmal levels. These days, 9–5 workers are coming into the office not just to work, but to charge their devices and soak up some air conditioning, because the heat outside is doing its own thing. As if that's not enough, there's also fuel scarcity, which means getting anywhere now costs more than it should. | If you're a remote worker with a functioning solar setup and nowhere you urgently need to be, the Lord has really done something for you. But still, we hold on to hope that things will get better. Truly. | Let's get into it ⬇️ | In this edition: This week in pop culture, hurdles of a Lagos worker commuting to work, an important conversation about BBL, our IWD playlist, and some relationship stats. | If you're enjoying this, don't forget to subscribe and join The Juice community. We're building this together ♡. | | | | | | Quick Question | Would you rather… get back with your ex or send boys to beat them up? | Answer at the bottom of this newsletter. |
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| | 🗞️ THIS WEEK IN POP CULTURE | | | | | | 🎵 MUSIC | Nigerian women do what? We achieve. Tems has been tapped to headline All Points East Festival in London in August alongside Jorja Smith. Our RnB darling just keeps racking achievements like infinity stones. |
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| | | | | ☆ CELEBRITY | Simi Sanya and Femi Dapson tied the knot traditionally. We are living for some of the outfits the guests donned, and for others, we are very tempted to call the police. Guys, let corsets breathe! |
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| | | | | 🏛️ POLITICS | The Senate continues to wage war against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. She was removed from the UN women's event delegation and replaced with a male senator. All this happening in women's month is quite wild to us. Alas, misogyny does not take a day off. |
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| | | | | 📚 LITERATURE | Chimamanda Adichie has been named a member of the House of Bvlgari! We are not really surprised because that woman has always had her style on lock! |
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| | | | | ↝ TRENDING | Content creator Salem King asked the public to ask for the name of his wife (Jesimiel Damina) instead of referring to her as Mrs. Salem, and this upset some people. This is the same set that harassed people for calling Mr. Atere (Veekee James' husband) Mr. James. We see the double standards. |
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| | | 🍋 Main Squeeze | How Miracle commutes to work in Lagos | | | | | Midweek, a conversation erupted on Twitter (now X) about how Lagos workers navigate the daily commute: getting to the office, returning home, and still trying to maintain some semblance of a life. | The discussion was triggered by a young man who shared his journey from the mainland to the island, detailing the multiple buses he had to take just to get to work. | For many people outside Lagos, the thread came as a shock. | If you're one of those non-Lagos folks, don't worry, we've brought the gist to you because it's important to understand how your country people are surviving. | Safe to say, many of us are exasperated by the state of the Lagos transport system. | To get a closer look at what this reality actually feels like, we spoke to Miracle, a Lagos-based lawyer, about how she gets to work every day. | What's your name, what do you do for work, and where in Lagos do you live and work? | My name is Miracle. I am a lawyer living in Festac and working on the island, specifically Lekki Phase 1. | What time does your day usually start, and what time do you typically get home? | Currently, my day starts at 4:30 am. This is largely because I have a younger brother, whom I prepare for school. Although when I do not have to bother about him, my day starts at 5:30 am. | Also, I get home around 9:00 pm. This is largely because I wait behind at the office, so the traffic clears up before I leave. | On a typical day, how long do you spend commuting? | Combined, I spend about 4 hours commuting. It could be way more if there's traffic. | How much do you roughly spend getting to and from work every day? | In total, I spend about 5k. | If you're comfortable sharing, what's your monthly salary—and how much of it goes into transportation? | I earn N250,000. I spend about 60k on transportation. | What's the hardest part of getting home so late every day? | I am so tired at the end of the day. I can't stay up to gist with family or friends or even go out for late-night events. I just want to sleep bruhhh. | If you suddenly had those hours you spend in traffic back, what would you do with them? | Probably read more books, watch movies, or sleeeep! | |
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| | | 🔪 The Peel | | BBL conversations are a bit hypocritical
| | | | | 🔍 The Discourse | At the beginning of the week, a video of a BBL fail circulated on social media. | I don't want to give you the full details because it is quite gory, and I'm kind enough to save you from that. Say 'thank you'! | Anyways, since the video surfaced, people have gone on and on about the dangers of BBL and have advised women to be comfortable in their skin. | All great takes if you ask me, but it feels a bit hypocritical. Hang on, I'll explain. |
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| | | | | Peeling it back | The curvy, "snatched" body, small waist, large hips, and full backside has become one of the most rewarded body types in contemporary media. Shalla to the Kardashians. | You and I both see the chants of "what waist" on the streets of Twitter. Our Afrobeats artistes love to declare their love for curvaceous women. | Davido and Zlatan chant, "Fatty bum bum, biggie bum bum" in Bum Bum, while Runtown and Wizkid ask, "Who be that girl with big yansh?" in Bend Down Pause. | Even songs built around dancing often focus on waist movement and body shape, reinforcing the desirability of a hyper-curvaceous figure. | Women like Bimbo Ademoye, Osas Ighodaro, and Uche Montana are all praised for their bodies, which imitate the snatched body prototype. | Celebrity culture showcases hypercurvy silhouettes. Music videos, fashion, and pop culture imagery frame these bodies as aspirational templates. | Social media not only reflects beauty standards but also amplifies them. These images circulate constantly, creating the illusion that this body is normal and attainable. | Thus, women with a different body type, whether plus-sized, smaller, or less curvaceous, are often faced with ridicule online or offline. They face reduced desirability and visibility in appearance-driven spaces. | The BBL doesn't appear out of nowhere; it emerges from a culture that rewards a specific body type. So is it really out of line that women strive to achieve it to partake in the benefit? | Everybody wants a piece of the national moi-moi. You shame women for a certain body build and then turn around and indict them for going after the "approved" body type. | Women must achieve the ideal body, but must not reveal the labour it takes to get there. How is that even possible? |
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| | | | | The core | Society condemns women pursuing the body ideal but rarely interrogates the culture that made that body ideal desirable in the first place. | The conversation around BBLs reveals a deep hypocrisy: women are pressured to meet beauty standards and then blamed when they pursue them. | And there is no smoke for the beauty industry perpetuating these standards. No smoke for the influencers profiting from these ideals and the culture that rewards certain bodies with attention and status. | You can't celebrate the bodies BBLs produce, reward those bodies with visibility and desirability, and then turn around and mock women who go under the knife. | We need to shift the discourse a bit; address the cultural machinery behind beauty standards so we can finally have a more holistic conversation around BBLs. |
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| | | 💡 JUICE BOX | | | | | Would you rather go back to your ex or send boys to beat them up? | | Previously… Last week, we asked about what you would pick if you could return to this world as a rich person who never finds love or a poor person with true love; click here (pls click it so my employers can see workings) if you missed it. The votes are in: We asked people on The Juice Team, and here's our answer: a rich person who never finds true love. I mean, duhhh, that's the only answer lmao. |
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| | | 🎵 Pressed by The Juice | This week's playlist | | This week we are on some screw that ex vibe, some I just wanna make money vibe, some angry woman vibe, and we are putting you onnnn. | We have Tiwa Savage, Genevieve Nnaji (yes, that song), GoodGirl LA, amongst others, leading the charge. Enjoyyyyyy | Don't forget to save, we update frequently. | Interested in guest curating? Reply to our mail, thejuice@pulse.ng | |
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| | | 🎫 Some events on our radar | | | | | We got invited to a Miskay x Hilda Baci exclusive collection launch, and will be going to shop and also to review. Be sure to check it out if you're free on Saturday. | | BYD, an electric car distribution company here in Nigeria, partnered with Pulse for a podcast. They are big on sustainability and eco-friendliness, which is something we also really respect. | The podcast premieres today, honest chats with some of the people who make the city what it is. If you are a creative, founder, tastemaker, or voice shaping the culture, come through. | |
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| | | | FRESH STATS | 6 in 10 | According to a Zikoko survey, 6 in 10 Nigerians resist ending their marriage even when the relationship isn't going well. Guess we took 'till death do us part' literally. | | Today's email was brought to you by Shalom Tewobola and Praise Okeoghene Vandeh. Editing by: Shalom Tewobola. Designs by: Daniel Banjoko | Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. | Have a story or product that needs to be seen? Submit here. |
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