We Should All Be Feminists review

The Basics

Book Title: We Should All Be Feminists

Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Pages: 48

ISBN: 978-1-101-91176-1

Genre: Non-fiction, Essay

Defining Quote

"The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be rather than recognizing how we are. Imagine how much happier we would be, how much freer to be our true individual selves, if we didn't have the weight of gender expectations." - p. 34

Summary

This essay is based off of Adichie's TEDx talk about what feminism looks like in present day and the perspective shift we all need to take for change. 

Thoughts

I heard about this book from Regan (PeruseProject) on her BookTube page. You can visit her BookTube at this link. I have been interested in reading more empowered women characters in my books when I heard about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I first heard about her book, Americanah, but was a little worried about reading it because I'm not really into contemporary books. That's when I heard about this short little essay and figured it was the perfect opportunity to test out what I think of her writing style and see if I wanted to jump into her other works. 

I read this book in about a half hour, maybe even less and I'm glad that I did. I would also consider myself a feminist and have been more intrigued recently on different views of today's feminists (such as Emma Watson). I liked how she used examples of what Adichie has personally experienced or heard from a friend that experienced it. So many times, I feel like I talk about the different ways women and men are treated in society and I get shut down because of where I am in life and because I'm white. I partially know that as a white person, I am more privileged and treated better than a black woman would in the same situation, but I can never fully understand the difference. But that's a completely different subject. 

It's a short read, but I feel it is something everyone should read. Yes, that means men AND women. I like how Adichie makes the argument that it's not only men that need to change their perspective on women, but women need to change how they perceive themselves in society as well. Even as a feminist, I read this essay and found myself assessing my own life and if I was living it to please others or to please myself - not in a selfish way, but in a way to have a higher quality of life with less anxiety and stress over how I will appear and what others may think. 

I understand it's a touchy subject for some, but the way I think of it is if you don't like to talk to feminists or hear their "complaining", at least this essay is short so you're not going through an entire book. But even then, I don't feel that Adichie is complaining about women's situations in the world. She's stating facts and suggesting how much better our lives could be if we were willing to change our perspective. 

Pros vs. Cons

• Pros
• Short read
• Good subject material
• Told in an engaging way
• Gives you information to chew on
• Cons
• Can be a touchy subject for some - need to approach with an open mind

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐