1. This is why I don't bother myself with conversations around desirability hierarchy and pretty privilege regarding women. If female privilege doesn't exist then it must follow that the attention of males & their sexualizing of our bodies is not and can never be a privilege. https://twitter.com/Omojuwa/status/1297856016206434307

2. It may or may not be nice for certain women to experience being desired, but these are not concrete privileges in the grand scheme of things. Men desiring us is not power.

Beautiful women suffer all sorts of violence for their beauty.

3. That some of us women may "exploit" the system or hack it or enjoy it is not real power.

I will never forget the story of the model who a group of strangers (men) beat up till she was unrecognizable outside a club just for being beautiful. Her career ended.

4. Or the one who men threw acid on her face a while back. Or Pastor E.A Adeboye saying firing a woman from her job is fine if you can't control your attraction to her... and so many other examples.

The power that comes from being desired is only an illusion.

5. Which is why it pains me how much of our lives we women spend trying to fit into a standard of beauty that's ever-changing. How much we are willing to risk for it. Beauty should be enjoyed & joyful, but for women, it's a burdening cage.

6. We are told to negotiate for our humanity with it, but it's never enough.

I don't deny that there're benefits to being a beautiful woman. I just draw the line at calling it a privilege when men still hold so much power over the negotiations we make with beauty.