We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Synopsis:

5 out of 5 stars

I try my absolute best to keep away from discussing politically charged topics on this blog so as not to mar the light and pleasant vibe we have going for us. However, once in a while, I read a book that delves into a "controversial" subjects or issues, ones that need to be addressed. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of those books. It consists of a series of essays in which Adichie chronicles her life experiences and of those around her and analyzes them in the context of gender equality, or the lack thereof. She expounds on what she believes is inherently wrong with the society within which women are second-class citizens around the world, where women are conditioned to be subservient, to not draw too much attention to themselves so as not to overshadow their male counterparts, and are taught to aspire to a very specific set of goals: get married, bear children, be dutiful and supportive wives, and attend to the domestic responsibilities (cleaning, cooking, etc.) to maintain a respectable household. Adichie doesn't believe that this should be the case, she asserts that boys and girls need to be raised to aspire to do what they want, that they ought to pursue the objects of their interest. If it happens to be that all a girl wants to amount in life is to be a proper housewife, then so be it. The most important thing is that it be her choice. She shouldn't need to do it to appease her family or because it might improve her prospects in other social domains (e.g work or to get into a club as Adichie's acquaintance needed to do), she need only do it strictly because she wants to.

You know baffled me about this book? Chimamanda is very smart and her ideas and suggestions are enlightened, and yet, they are not revolutionary! Or at least, they shouldn't be. Why is it that calls for rights as basic as racial/ethnic and gender equality are seen as radical in our day and age, or in any age? I realize that's a difficult question to tackle in a book review, but we need question the rightness of the foundations on which we built our societies and what they constitute in order to make the changes we hope to accomplish. To be perfectly honest though, as optimistic as I can be generally, if I'm being pragmatic, at the rate and direction society is moving, the U.S in particular, I don't think we'll be seeing any significant change in our lifetimes. As many people as there is that care, there are a lot more that aren't bothered enough to fight against the injustice and for an objectively better future. Perhaps, as Adichie says, in a hundred years when enough people- men and women alike- insist on overhauling the current system and replacing it, perhaps then humans will live in a world where one's ability and interests, not gender, dictate what they will be in life, and their character how others treat them.