Marriage, childbirth not true benchmarks of success — Etinosa Idemudia

Nigerian actress, Etinosa Idemudia, has shared her views on success, self-worth and gender expectations, saying marriage and childbirth should not be used to measure a woman’s achievements.

Speaking in a recent interview, she said success is not determined by hard work alone, adding that grace and divine timing also play an important role.

“The difference between successful actors and not successful actors… I feel like it’s grace. Hard work is part of it, but I can never say hard work is all of it,” she said.

Discussing the values she hopes to pass on to her future daughter, the actress said self-respect and self-esteem would be her biggest lessons.

“If I don’t teach my daughter anything, I will teach her how to respect herself, how to value herself,” she said.

Etinosa added that women who value themselves are less likely to tolerate disrespect from others.

Speaking on gender expectations, the actress said women are often judged more harshly than men.

She argued that successful women are sometimes labelled as “Ash£wo,” even though some men also engage in similar behaviour to achieve success.

She also encouraged women not to compare themselves with others but to draw inspiration from the success of other women instead.