Why no male Kenyan celebrity should complain about cyber bullying

Kenyan celebrities have added a new word to their lexicon and my word they are using it to no end and that word is cyberbullying. As such, many Kenyan female celebrities such as Nadia Mukami have cried about cyberbullying. And she is by no means the only one who has done so with Lillian Muli and Lynda Nyangweso too. Even Bahati and Khaligraph Jones have addressed the issue of cyberbullying and here is where I draw the line.

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That is not to say that Kenyan celebrities arent indeed getting cyberbullied. Afterall a recent study was done on the international digital phenomenon and Kenyans were highlighted as being a particularly nasty part of the puzzle with the way Kenyans on Twitter delight in tearing down anyone who they feel has earned their ire.
We have seen Lynda Nyangweso get attacked for her weight for no reason other than the fact that someone felt her voice didn’t match her size. Such an incident is disposable and should be condemned as it rightfully was.

Perhaps the case can be made that Kenyan celebrities merely bear the brunt of Kenyan culture which has bullying entrenched as a form of initiation as form ones (monos) often get hazed and bullied when they join high school.

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My focus today, however, isn’t the cultural reason for cyberbullying but to critique the manner in which male Kenyan celebrities belly ache about getting cyberbullied. Perhaps this is an old fashioned, nearly Old Testament approach to masculinity, but I have been raised to believe that we as men must be stoic.

So it befuddled and boggles the mind to see men decry getting called on social media although they never fully thought through what being a celebrity is all about. This is by no means my telling rappers like Khaligraph Jones not to hit back at the haters because after all, one mustn’t dish out what they cannot take. And rappers such as Eminem and Kanye West have famously lashed out at haters and critics but with one major difference. They did not try to cast themselves in the light of victims. They did not try to cut the image of the defeated. They did indeed acknowledge their underdog status but they opted to fight on rather than bitch out.

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But Ozymandias, how can you be so sure about this fact? Well, because men are meant to be stoic. Men are meant to be the rocks of society. If a male Kenyan celebrity cannot deal with the unwanted attention that comes hand-in-hand with the love they receive, then the path is clear, quit. Or log off your computer and go outside to the real world. That is always the option they have. Kenyan celebrities need to stop bellyaching and start realizing that they could always simply switch off their comment section and limit access to their DMs.

Think about it. What stops Jimmy Gait from switching off the comments on his Youtube videos? What’s to stop Jimmy Gait from stopping people from commenting on his social media profiles? I really do not understand why he cries about such things. Yes, there are some horrible people in this world. But we all face the unfairness of life and when you can mute it, do so. I shouldn’t have to remind these men that they have elected to let this negativity remain in their lives as they refuse to handle the situation.
Khaligraph Jones is a fantastic example of what Kenyan male celebrities should do when faced with haters; put that angst into music instead of whining. Create music so good, even your haters have no choice but to clap for you.

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