Review

We Should all be a Feminist

By: Cimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

Review!

        This book is a small little book that has some big things to say. In this novelization of Adichie's Ted talk about feminism, readers will see some side of culture that they have never seen before. The many small acts that are done in society that ultimately lead to unequal livelihoods between men and women. Some of these are unable to even be detected unless you are looking very closely, including: 

• Men paying for dinner or Movies.
• Men having to come up with the best gifts.
• Women being expected to marry, especially in foreign countries.
• The gender roles within the house, man comes home stereotypically and sits down to relax while the woman goes and cleans and prepares dinner. 
• The way women are treated as lessors in the work place: examples include if a man and a women come up with the same ideas and the women presents her idea she is more likely to be brushed off even though if her male counterpart were to present the same idea he would be praised and rewarded. 

All of these things happen in the modern world, whether we are going to acknowledge them or not they are still going to occur unless we step in and try to change the culture. This culture change can be gradual because as Adichie says "All of us, women and men, must do better."(48) In this concluding line I am able to see that there is a way to fix the issues at hand, however we must step in together and attempt to right the wrongs that we see in society. 

        Back to how I liked the book, I enjoyed the quick little read that it was although I would say that this is not something you read for the prose or language, it is something you read for the ideas and experiences that it exposes. If you see this book in stores you should pick it up and have a flick through it or just add it into your cart because for the money you have to pay this little book packs a punch. I am also sincerely curious about the other books that she has written now, because of the poignant messages she was able to pack into this very small book my mind is reeling to think of what she could fit into a full length novel.

     

 This is a very tough thing to recognize and consciously do in the modern society we live in today, however it is something that we must step in and change. My views prior to reading this book may have been a little muddled in the feminism department, I was thinking that feminism only dealt with the issues of equal rights, and pay; which it does encompass but that is not where it stops. I also saw that as much as I would like to hide it I have committed some of the offenses against the feminist movement, when my girlfriend and I go out for food or a movie I often will pay out of "chivalry", getting presents for each other I try to out do what she can do, however I believe that these are out of common courtesy most times. I know that society has a long way to go when it comes to this subject, so in this post I am going to be linking Emma 

Watson's He For She campaign website and I want us all to go and sign the pledge and begin the fight against anti feminist actions. I am also going to leave Adichie's full length Ted talk on the subject down bellow and hopefully you are able to take the time and listen to the words she has to say about the way society is and how we can change it. 

He For She Campaign

Ted Talk

I have signed the pledge and now you have the choice to stand up and make a change in our society. 

Happy Reading!

I hope that I did not offend anyone with this post, it was my intentions just to put my thoughts on feminism and this tiny little book out there for you all to see.