"I AM DEEPLY OFFENDED BY THE BRIDE PRICE APP!"


Yesterday in my Monday Chit-Chat post I shared the link to an app which calculates bride price: it is typical tradition for bride price to be paid during marriage ceremonies in Nigeria so I was very curious to know how much my bride price was, I have been told earlier by a cousin that bride price is usually not more than 100 naira, so you should have seen my excitement at being declared a Premium Babe because of my bow legs, short height, nationality...I found the app hilarious because it was unrealistic... my favourite parts were "Ada Ada in the morning and Caro at night", "Sexy Bow legs Beyonce" There is even a disclaimer before you use the app hence I didn't take it seriously... I don't think other people share my sentiments. 

There's a petition now for the app to be taken down. In fact, there are 2 petitions, one to take down the app and another to petition against the petition to take down the app: Oh I have a headache already. LOL. According to Ikechukwu Oyemelukwe (the person behind the petition to take down the app):

"Bridepricecheck is a web app that assigns virtual monetary value (in Naira) to women in an attempt to calculate their bride price based on factors such as their level of education, skin colour, nationality, weight, beauty, physical features, spoken accents, country of residence, employment status etc"
There's more ...
"The Bridepricecheck app promotes racism, sexism, discrimination against women. By assigning a price tag it devalues the true worth of a woman; it promotes the ideology that women are the lesser gender, and are expected to please men. The app assigns a lesser monetary value for having darker skin and a greater value for being mixed-race/ lighter. The app assigns greater value for being tall, having no tribal marks, and deducts value for having a particular accent. It even goes as far as limiting the level of ambition and education women are expected to have (by deducting monetary value for women who obtain a PhD degree). This is not in anyway different from the mentality that the terrorist group Boko Haram have towards women, and how they have demonstrated this with the kidnapping of over 200 Chibok school girls. The world is still dealing with the actions that ensue from such repressive mentality, and on a daily basis we get reports of rape, violence, oppression, and harassment of women."

This is why I want to ask: 

  • Did you have fun with the app?
  • Do you think it should be taken down? 
  • Did you find it offensive?

43 comments

  1. Why is the 1st petioner taking panadol for our head ache? Over - education is worrying some people. ..walahi! Bride price app????? He must be too idle....mttescchww

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  2. Very soon we won't be able to laugh at anything without being racist or sexist.

    No I don't think it should be taken down. I thought it was silly is why I didn't check mine before now. And no, I don't find it offensive. But just for the fun of it I'm heading there right now. This Ikechukwu person should take a chill pill abeg.

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    1. The person has issues having fun. Of all the problems in the country, the App is now ikechukwus problem? Tufia. He/She is a raving enemy of laugh

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  3. I think the app is funny but it is quite silly as well and a bit annoying to be honest, I even wondered why it is was so popular? Deducting marks for a phd seemed quite absurd and the part about citizenship and the way a person spoke seemed superficial.

    www.wurassecrethair.blogspot.com

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    1. Having a PhD means you're too intelligent for any man to want to marry you. It's better to stop at a Masters... you're smart, but not too smart.

      Everything about it was superficial.




      And FUNNY AS HECK!

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    2. I agree with you Berry, there is a disclaimer there. we all know bride price is cheap in Nigeria. it is not about the price, its about being a premium, chasis, exclusive premium bebe. loool. Ike, take life easy! seems your sisters are Phd holders, they will still marry o nna, i nu go?

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  4. I loved it. I thought it was hilarious. I am surprised anyone would take such a thing serious enough to warrant a petition.

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  5. Perhaps they should learn to live a little. Imagine comparing the app to Shekau's Boko Haram! Those up in arms should develop and publish their own "perfect" app rather than embarking on a needless and fruitless petition adventure.

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  6. lool i think it shudnt b taken down i found it funny to use and tht ada in the morning caro at night part was to die for LMAOOO some ppl shud jus chill tho

    http://beautynbrushes.blogspot.ie/

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  7. Having read the argument for taking it down, I have to agree with it. Initially I thought it was amusing and quite ridiculous and just left it..
    But in a world where we are trying to promote the 'self-love' of individuals particularly female and build self-esteem, it is not healthy at all to have this sort of 'joke'..
    It is funny at first but one has to then consider what should be a joke and what shouldn't.

    Now don't lie, when they asked the questions about accents and skin tone, didn't some people complete it a little smugly like "yeah, I'm fair-skinned and I got a foreign accent" :-)

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  8. The app is just a reflection of the narrow mindedness of many Nigerians and as fun as it is, doesn't it just tell the truth? To agree to take down the app is to ignore the fact that many men put all this into consideration before picking a wife. I don't think many women will take it seriously... I had lots of fun with it!

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    1. EXACTLY !!!!!!!!!!!!! If anything, this is how people should see it.

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    2. My view exactly!! The app is not saying " this is it". It is saying " this is many men's ideology when getting married ". Some people so lack sense of humour that they develop high BP when they attend "night of a thousand laughs"

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  9. Na free access to internet dey worry people.
    Na who them tear bill for as bride price go dey vex.

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  10. we are taking it too serious fa! How many things do we have to make us laugh in Obodo Nigeria? No parks, no scenic views , no resorts, traffic everywhere, no jobs, etc All we have to make us smile is food drink, parties and the internet. Did I take the app seriously? 10% of me did. It brought a smile and i moved on. My worth isnt based on that. harmless fun it is. and it would stay harmless....

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  11. I think those pple shouldn't take themselves too serious. Haba. Please you only live once. Life is hard already, find some little things to make u laff biko. Mshew. Petition ko, pertinent ni

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  12. I feel its just for fun!! Bride price isn't that expensive na!! No matter what and none of those factors actually determine how much a groom will pay.

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  13. Loool, its funny, and its not that deep, haba! I understand the lady's point but its a joke, you either find it funny or not, in that case keep it moving, petition only you would sign lol

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  14. Mehn, a lot of people need to take some chill pills abeg. It's just a funny app. And truth be told, don't we all, male or female, consider "superficial" attributes like height, physical attractiveness, education, diction etc in picking a spouse? How many of the ladies who read Sisi Yemmie's blog would go on a date with Rasaki or Emeka the illiterate mechanic who fixes their cars at the yard down the road and has a thick yoruba or igbo accent to boot?

    To show you how much of a joke the app is, you can retake the test and pick the exact same answers as before and the Elders will decide your bride price to be lower or higher than before. Which is why I have a different figure on my twitter TL and facebook pages as I had to retake the test to share on social media.

    People should just chill abeg. Life aint that hard at all.

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  15. But this was all for fun and bants... But as Joker would say "Why So Serious?"

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    Replies
    1. My dear sister, I agree with you. Why so serious? I mean we all laughed after we saw our bride price and we forgot about it until someone decided to write a petition and make it look very serious. I can't believe people actually took this thing serious.
      Mylifeasmoby.blogspot.com

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  16. But this was all for fun and for bants. People sha... As Joker would say "Why So serious?".... *sighs*

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  17. Pretty unbelievable. Nothing can be laughed at these days.

    http://www.african-sweetheart.com/

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  18. i can see why the guy would take offence. But we should know when to take a joke.
    P.S.
    what does caro at night mean?

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  19. I had fun using it.......but the value was placed on the wrong things in a woman, hence passing the wrong message to Men and Women alike.
    Besides every lady who used it was not entirely sincere....*winks* so anyone can be premium Babe by just choosing the options with the highest money value.
    TO ALL THE LADIES, WE ARE MORE VALUABLE THAN THE BOW LEGS,LIGHT SKIN, ACCENT ETC. So don't limit yourself to a funny app.
    The Beautiful Eagle's Blog

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  20. The ish shld be taken down Biko o.

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  21. Lmfaooooooo people are always angry these days. Ever since the word "feminist" has started winning cool points online, a lot of people have lost their sense of humour. EVERYTHING MAKES THEM ANGRY. LITERALLY EVERYTHING ! It's sad really that people can't take jokes anymore. If this isn't insecurity then I don't know what it is. It's my cousin's wedding next week and yesterday we all had a meeting as per last preparation, since it was a bank holiday. During the meeting, I was on twitter and I started laughing. My brother was like, why are you cheesing this hard and i showed him various comments from the bride price app. Before we knew it, everyone in the gathering started doing theirs including the guys. We got to the PHD part and my sister went "Chai, no love for PHD folks like us" and we all laughed about it, with my dad saying this is what "over kaku" causes. We all just had a good laugh and no offence whatsoever because at the end of the day it is the truth and this is how it works.

    Why is the person acting like, bride price suddenly came into existence because of the app ? And if it gets taking down, would that stop the average igbo man from collecting bride price from his inlaw ? If anything at all, we should pick up on the satire, it was brilliantly done and that alone is praise worthy. And like someone rightly said "If you cannot poke fun at ridiculous every day situations, what's there to laugh at ?"

    I also hate the fact that people are talking about how it is superficial, like the world itself isn't superficial. The guy talking petition himself would have some traits he is looking for in females and the one's he would flee away from. Well, to some people that is highly superficial. Please dear feminists, you people need to start being realistic with your views. Parents train your daughters to be women and train your sons to be men. WE ARE NOT THE SAME THING..WE ARE DIFFERENT. I am not saying one is less or more equal but we are not the same thing, so please act you gender. This is the same ting with random jokes these days, if it is not sexist, it is racist, if it is not racist..it is offensive to the poor one, if it's not that..it is offensive to the caramel skinned girls or the fat ones. I am FAT and I am not insecure about it, you crack or tweet a joke about fat girls and I laugh about it and let's be honest they are the funniest type of jokes. Please people should stop seeking validation online. I will respect you because you are human and you respect me, not because you are a woman or a man.

    At the end of the day, it is feminist online but house girl in their homes.

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    Replies
    1. While I don't agree with everything you've said, Babe abeg chop knuckle.

      Delete
  22. I loooooooooved it!!!!! I laughed long nd hard at the options given, I even yabbed my friend Yemisi for lying on herz coz she was valued at 2m. I think it gave me somthing to laugh about, I value laughter. And as for the oda arguments Ooooo puuleeezzzzz are we so bad as people dat we can't even know a joke when itz staring us ryt in the face?? Comedians make insultive jokes about themselves nd their families nd we laugh should dey stop that too. Biko letz learn to laugh at ourselves sometimes

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  23. I had mad fun with d app,I don't think it should be taken down, I mean hw many things get us laffing dese days with d state of d nation and I Didn't find it offensive.dis ikechukwu guy needs someone to revive his sense of humor joor.

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  24. Chill out, people! ...It's just for laughs:)

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  25. Why so serious?

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  26. People just like to create a whole mountain out of a molehill. I'm not even Nigerian, but I took the test and then shared my results...it was fun! I think (or choose to believe) that the app was a joke and a satire at the same time. Anybody who judges their self-worth or lack thereof according to a checklist by Anon has got problems that the number of zeros on their bride-price cannot fix.

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  27. The petitioner should go and relax jare. Its just a fun web app and I had fun with it. No one in my department found it offensive.. Everyone just laughed abt it. My favourite part of the web app is 'Ada Ada in the morning and Caro at night' and 'the elders are consulting'.

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  28. The funny thing about the app is if you pick all the "bad" ones your bride price is 1 million plus! So its just a game of numbers all the -50000 -40000.Try and choose all the negatives

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  29. The petitioner didn't have any other thing of importance to do cos that app is just for laughs, which I'm sure quite a number of pple have had.

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  30. Hehehe! I loved the app, and shared it amongst my friends. I dont think its sexist or feminist, pls bro IK, just laff! Nobody will ask you to pay the amount generated on the app when you go to pay your wife's brideprice, promise! :D

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  31. Okay, the app was funny. But reading this petition, I understand where it is coming from. There's always an underlying factor in every joke.

    Anyway, as an aside, there was no Business owner/entrepreneur under the employment options. Are they jokingly saying young ladies cannot own businesses or be entrepreneurs

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  32. Abeg.. The app is just hilarious and it should not be taken down!!!

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  33. Ok this is my 2 kobo....I used the app, enjoyed it, and had a good laugh. But then I was also aware of how the creator evaluated traits like a fairer skin color, a foreign accent etc to be of higher value. In reality these sort of perception of certain traits that are not 'Traditionally African' to have more value is predominant in our society and personally I think anything that reinforces these sort of perceptions should be played down on, for the sake young girls that are still at stage where their personality and confidence can be hampered by such a realization.

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