A review by ichthusangel
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

informative fast-paced

1.75

‘We Should All Be Feminists’ by Chimamanda Adichie is quite well written and a good book for someone who equates feminism to misandry and those who believe that women enjoy equal freedom in the present. The essay talks about the negative baggage with the word ‘feminist,’ anger in young women because of how they’re constantly put down, how they school themselves because it’s been ingrained in them that they should be ‘likable.’ The essay talks of the lack of respect, even in modern workplaces, if a women is unmarried, men— who are brought up in extremely restrictive boundaries as well and how it contributes to their fragile ego, and how women are taught to cater to those fragile egos, what people of either gender sacrifice because of their spouses and family. It addresses how women are brought up to see other women as their competitors, not for accomplishments, but for men’s attention. ‘Who turn pretence into art,’ that’s true for many, many women. The essay tackles a lot of questions most people, non-feminists, would ask. 

Now, coming onto why I dislike this book— I prefer not reading reviews for I feel like it messes with my independent thinking, so I did not know that the author is a TERF who has been transphobic on many instances. I think cishets might not even notice it, but as a queer person reading a feminist piece that’s way too binary, that reinforces division as simply black & white, an essay that essentially says that anyone who isn’t a straight allosexual is a virgin. The essay writes about ‘bottom power,’ completely ignoring the existence of an entire, broad spectrum of asexuality, also women who don’t just want to have sex with their partners. It propagates homophobic and transphobic views of the world— and that triggered me. Reading her works after knowing this is not something I’ll be able to do. It costs nothing to be kind, to be understanding, to give space and voice to queer folks. And to say, I’m not new to the concept of a feminist book lacking inclusivity. However those books don’t outright reject queer experiences, it just isn’t there. And that’s fine. But WSABF diminishes & rejects queer experiences. 
The author herself has weird notions of feminine and masculine actions, because of which she highlights, in not only this book but her autobiographical book as well, that she’s ‘political,’ and that it that makes her ‘masculine.’ 

The author has clarified at times that she isn’t transphobic (and also a LGBTQ activist) while at times arrogantly responded to it. This book tells you she’s a TERF and definitely not an LGBTQ activist. It is annoying to see such huge parts of society & oppression being erased. 
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