Mary Njoku Questions Double Standard Over Women, Wealthy Men and ‘Gold Diggers’

Nollywood actress Mary Remmy Njoku has questioned the different standards applied to men and women who benefit from the wealth and generosity of successful people.

Njoku raised the issue in a social media post while challenging the tendency to label women as “gold diggers” when they associate with wealthy men and benefit from their generosity.

“If benefiting from a wealthy person’s generosity makes a woman a gold digger, what exactly do we call the 17 men eating his food, wearing what he bought, enjoying his money and calling themselves his boys?” she asked.

The actress illustrated her argument with the example of a man identified as Emeka, whom she said returned home after becoming successful and soon had 17 grown men constantly around him.

According to Njoku, the men ate Emeka’s food, wore clothes he purchased, had their bills paid and enjoyed his money. However, she noted that their relationship with him was often described in more respectable terms such as “brotherhood,” “networking” and “loyalty.”

She argued that society often applies a different standard when women are in similar situations, particularly when they maintain close relationships with wealthy men and benefit from their resources.

“The double standard isn’t that people love money. It’s that when men benefit from proximity to wealth, we give the behaviour a respectable name. When women do the same thing, we give it a dirty one,” Njoku wrote.

The actress further argued that the attraction to wealth and influence is not exclusive to one gender. She said men, women, friends, relatives and employees can all be drawn to people whose financial position or social status could make their lives easier.

Her comments have sparked discussion about gender stereotypes, financial dependence and the different labels society uses to describe similar relationships involving men and women.