Scan barcode
A review by foosreadsandwrites
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
5.0
WE SHOULD ALL BE FEMINISTS: 5/5. It'd be hard to find logical fallacies in this manuscripted TED-Talk. I've been waiting to read something by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for a while now, and I'm so glad to have finally got my hands on one (Thank you, sis!). She was magnificent in her talk. She's succinct, persuasive, and all around said what needed to be said. She comes from Nigeria, which seems to have a decidedly more stereotypical gender issue than in America. That's not to say that the issue in America is LESS, just that it has progressed to the stage of imaginary completion. We THINK we've finished with sexism in the workplace and in our daily lives, but we're far from it. The manuscript reinvigorated the thing in me that wants to stand up for my wife's ability to outshine stereotypes - and to inhabit the norms that she wants to keep. In general, I love when labels are shaken.
Adichie reminded her audience that men are held to a ridiculous set of "ideals" as well - hard, driven, emotionless (except for anger), and above all, "strong." Strength is narrowly defined as the ability to dominate the arena we are in. Women, on the other hand, are not supposed to be strong - manly - in most cases. We expect softness and gentle kindness, when often their circumstances may be better served through toughness and the ability to fight. When they find themselves in such situations, they may have to fight against their own culturally ingrained understandings of gender just to live the best way. It would be best for all of us to do away with these silly notions of what it means to be male and female and instead side with the basic idea of BEING male or female, without anything attached to the role. I hope my girls grow up seeing strong, honest, capable women in their life. I'm glad to know they will, because they have a momma who is all of these things and FIVE aunts, a Nana and a Ma'am who will show them how and have already begun creating that legacy. I hope I get to be the kind of dad who shows them that a man can and often put a woman's needs before his own. I can't wait to see them grow up! For my wife, my daughters, my sisters, my wife's sisters, and just for myself, I'll gladly be a feminist who seeks equality where it does not exist.
Adichie reminded her audience that men are held to a ridiculous set of "ideals" as well - hard, driven, emotionless (except for anger), and above all, "strong." Strength is narrowly defined as the ability to dominate the arena we are in. Women, on the other hand, are not supposed to be strong - manly - in most cases. We expect softness and gentle kindness, when often their circumstances may be better served through toughness and the ability to fight. When they find themselves in such situations, they may have to fight against their own culturally ingrained understandings of gender just to live the best way. It would be best for all of us to do away with these silly notions of what it means to be male and female and instead side with the basic idea of BEING male or female, without anything attached to the role. I hope my girls grow up seeing strong, honest, capable women in their life. I'm glad to know they will, because they have a momma who is all of these things and FIVE aunts, a Nana and a Ma'am who will show them how and have already begun creating that legacy. I hope I get to be the kind of dad who shows them that a man can and often put a woman's needs before his own. I can't wait to see them grow up! For my wife, my daughters, my sisters, my wife's sisters, and just for myself, I'll gladly be a feminist who seeks equality where it does not exist.