Book Review: We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Reviewed by Kamryn Kronschnabel

 

One of the shortest additions to our collection, We Should All Be Feminists is a succinct essay on how we define women and their roles in the modern world – and how traditional gender expectations hurt everyone. A well-written, fast-paced read, it was adapted from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s successful TEDx Talk of the same name.

 

Adichie has great personal anecdotes throughout: she knows female colleagues who have to wear wedding rings to be taken seriously, she knows women who pretended to like cleaning until they got married, and she knows people who’ve called her feminist as an insult. While many of these experiences come from outside of the United States, her points are universal and artfully nuanced as she covers both blatant discrimination and other, better-disguised behaviors that continue to marginalize women. For such a short piece, she covers a tremendous amount of ground as she unpacks the word “feminist” – what it means, its baggage, and why we should all be one – as a step toward recognizing and removing the gender divide.

 

You can check out We Should All Be Feminists at the Charles City Public Library – call 641-257-6319 or stop in today to reserve our copy.