In an Instagram story, Toke posted a photo of herself cooking, with a less-than-enthusiastic expression. Alongside the picture, she humorously confirmed her dislike for cooking, saying that if anyone ever wondered how much she hated it, the image was all the proof they needed.
What does the way affluent/modern Nigerian women talk about domestic labour reveal about changing expectations of women?
The media personality made the comment while discussing the everyday tasks she would rather avoid, putting a familiar household responsibility into a very different context: not everyone considers cooking an essential expression of femininity or homemaking.
For many Nigerian women, cooking is more than simply preparing food.
It can be tied to ideas about what a “good woman” should know how to do, particularly within traditional expectations around marriage and family.
That makes a simple statement such as “I hate cooking” more revealing than it initially appears.
Toke's comment pushes against the assumption that a woman's ability to cook should automatically determine how domestic, feminine or marriageable she is.
The changing meaning of domestic skills
Expectations around household work have changed as women's lives have changed.
A generation ago, domestic skills were often treated as essential preparation for marriage. Today, professional women may have demanding careers, businesses, social commitments and different arrangements for managing their homes.
Cooking can therefore become a preference rather than a measure of character.
Some people genuinely enjoy preparing meals. Others would rather order food, employ help, share the responsibility with a partner or spend their time doing something else.
None of those choices necessarily says anything about how capable a person is.
Makinwa's comments attract attention partly because celebrities often become symbols of lifestyles that audiences either admire, question or debate.
When a public figure admits that she dislikes a traditionally expected domestic task, the conversation can quickly become bigger than the celebrity herself.
It becomes a question about what women are still expected to do — and whether those expectations have kept pace with the lives women actually live.
Cooking isn't the real issue
The interesting question isn't whether Toke Makinwa can cook.
It is why society still treats cooking as a meaningful measure of a woman's value.
A woman can dislike cooking and still be nurturing.
She can outsource household work and still care deeply about her family.
She can prioritise her career without being less feminine.
And she can simply dislike a chore without needing to justify the preference.
Toke's comment may have been casual, but it taps into a much larger shift: women increasingly want domestic roles to be choices rather than obligations.
Jaiyeorie takeaway
A celebrity saying “I hate cooking” is easy entertainment news.
The story is what happens when women stop treating every traditionally feminine task as a test they must pass.
Maybe the question isn't whether a woman can cook. Maybe it's whether she should have to prove her worth by doing it.
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