It is during the lockdown, at about 22:03 pm, on a Thursday Evening that was supposed to be a last day of the initial 21 days of lockdown in South Africa. Two weeks down the line, when everybody was starting to settle in their state of mind the idea of returning back to normal routines, things were getting real hard. Especially for some of us who are self isolating #StayingHome on our own. When the President announced the lockdown extension with 2 more weeks, none of us was shook, it just got realer bafwethu. I'm not here to discuss the COVID19 pandemic coz honey we all know that Coco V is beyond us. 
In this very moment I'm suppose to be catching up on #BoityOwnYourThrone coz I had promised someone I will do a review; me being myself, I ended up watching the 2019 Design Indaba Speech by Nigerian Fashion designer Adebayo Oke Lawal. The speech was accompanied by a showcase of a range from his autumn/Winter 19 collection themed: Don't look under my skirt. Bayo as I affectionately prefer to call him spoke of something that is very dear to my heart and has always bothered me from a very young age. His upbringing as an african boy from a township in Nigeria was almost similar to mine, I learned that from his other interviews.
Bayo spoke about the inspiration behind his designs and the background behind the brand Orange Culture. Orange culture is more than just a fashion line or brand for men by a man whos personality and mannerisms has always been questioned, because it didn't fit the societal norm or was just uncommon for lack of a better word. Growing up in a small township, as a boy that everyone noticibly recognizes how different you are from other boys. You learn a lot about owning your being at a later stage in your life, simply because your environment is most likely not welcoming of what is regarded as being open minded in our today's generation -Woke- in today's term. You are either bullied or confronted with remarks that are unpleasant or condescending to make you feel like an outsider.
In Bayo's speech, he discussed how he came about the name Orange Culture, which, I'm not going to divulge much about to you here -go watch the show. What brought me here to share this piece with you, was how Bayo discussed toxic masculinity and how he use his designs to break free from those stereotypes. He explained his designs as pieces to create new images of a man that the society regard uncommon, or as tool to start conversations about breaking free from those societal stereotypes. I'm a fan of Bayo's work and that, for me, was advocacy that resonates with my #FashioningModernAfricanism
I'm here for the minority who feel unwelcomed in spaces that tries to box everyone into cubicles, so they can be viewed as normal. I'm not about that life. Sorry for sounding too proud, but in my state of mind, in this very moment I just want someone to know that, it's ok to be different. It's ok for you as a man to have a small voice with a soft tone. Own that sh!t and embrace it coz that's just who you are. I want someone to know that, it's ok to be a man that your uncles would regard a sissy at funerals, coz you can't dig a whole to burry your peers. That sh!t just ain't you and it doesn't make you any less of a man.
When a man is called out by another man to become a man that he's not, that doesn't make him a man. We are men because we are men.
Man up! _ Romley ( To Quote Myself)