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''We Should All Be Feminists'' is a book-length essay by the
Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
author
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( ; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in ''The Times Literary Supplement'' as "the most prominent" of a "procession of criticall ...
. First published in 2014 by Fourth Estate, it talks about the definition of
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
for the 21st century. The essay was adapted from Adichie's 2012
TEDx talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
of the same name, first delivered at TEDx Euston in London, which has been viewed more than six million times.


Content

''We Should All Be Feminists'' includes anecdotes and analyses about what it means to be a feminist. She argues that "feminist" isn't an insult, but rather a label that should be embraced by all. While feminism advocates for equity and equality between men and women in all aspects of life, the fiercest opposers of women's liberation believe that feminism is a social movement that focuses on reversing gender roles and making men inferior. Adichie's "We Should All Be Feminists," succinctly unearths the need to transform social beliefs and gender constructs that promote the disparity between men and women. In essence, we should all be feminists not only as a commitment to women's liberation but also as a way of encouraging men to hold conversations with women on sexuality, appearance, roles, and success. Being a feminist entails championing for the rights of women and trying to make the world a better place for women. Feminism does not entirely challenge the biological roles of each gender as it only intends to revolutionize sexism by creating equal chances and opportunities for women and men. Feminism views people as human beings and aims to tackle the social injustices that silence people's will and power to exceed social expectations. Therefore, becoming a feminist normalizes women's success and allows men to strive to achieve even more in life. Participating in the contemporary feminism paves the way for a prosperous and all-inclusive future society. Empowering women is not equivalent to taking away opportunities from men. Teaching the community to accord equal respect to women creates a conducive environment for success. Therefore, encouraging people to become feminists tunes their minds away from cultural and social constructs that limit their understanding of gender on sexuality and roles and allows men and women to become who they want to be without restrictions. The book is critical of the way masculinity is constructed, suggesting that society as a whole must change if we are to reach equality.


Adaptations

Audio from Adichie's talk was included in
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
's 2013 song " ***Flawless". Adichie was credited with a featured role on the track. Adichie has largely remained silent about her feelings on Beyoncé's use of her speech, but in a 2016 interview in the Dutch newspaper ''
De Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...
'', while acknowledging that with the song Beyoncé had reached many people who otherwise might never have heard the word feminism, Adichie said: "Still, her type of feminism is not mine, as it is the kind that, at the same time, gives quite a lot of space to the necessity of men. I think men are lovely, but I don’t think that women should relate everything they do to men: did he hurt me, do I forgive him, did he put a ring on my finger? We women are so conditioned to relate everything to men. Put a group of women together and the conversation will eventually be about men. Put a group of men together and they will not talk about women at all, they will just talk about their own stuff. We women should spend about 20 percent of our time on men, because it’s fun, but otherwise we should also be talking about our own stuff."


Reception

The book received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Rupert Hawksley said: "it just might be the most important book you read all year" in ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
''. ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' selected it as a book of the year, for it "would be the book I'd press into the hands of girls and boys, as an inspiration for a future 'world of happier men and happier women who are truer to themselves'". In December 2015, the
Swedish Women's Lobby The Swedish Women's Lobby ( sv, italic=no, Sveriges Kvinnoorganisationer; formerly ''Sveriges Kvinnolobby'') is a non-partisan political advocacy organization, and an umbrella organization for the Swedish women's rights and women's organizations. ...
and publisher Albert Bonniers revealed the book is to be distributed to every 16-year-old high school student in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, with the intention that it will "work as a stepping stone for a discussion about gender equality and feminism". The effort is supported by the UN Association of Sweden, the Swedish Trade Union Conferation, the Order of the Teaspoon, Unizon and Gertrud Åström. They "hope that teachers will integrate ''We Should All Be Feminists'' into their teaching, and will be distributing discussion guidelines to help". In September 2016, designer
Maria Grazia Chiuri Maria Grazia Chiuri (; born February 2, 1964) is an Italian fashion designer. After stints working at Fendi and Valentino, Chiuri was named creative director at Dior. Biography Her maternal grandfather died during the Second World War, leaving he ...
, the first female creative director in the 70-year history of the fashion house
Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds ...
, at her premiere show for the brand featured a T-shirt bearing the statement: "We Should All Be Feminists". The essay is excerpted in
Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...
's 2019 anthology ''
New Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...
''.


References

{{Reflist, 30em


External links

* Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
"We should all be feminists"
TEDxEuston, April 2013. * Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
"Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: 'I decided to call myself a Happy Feminist'"
''The Guardian'', 17 October 2014. * Alex Frank
"Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on Her 'Flawless' Speech, Out Today as an eBook"
''
Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...
'', 29 July 2014. 2014 non-fiction books Books by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Feminist essays Nigerian non-fiction books Fourth Estate books