Curiosity and Expectations


I still remember reading parts from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s short book “Why We Should All Be Feminists” during my junior of high school because her words deeply resonated with me. I have to say, however, that her words had even more of an impact when heard allowed rather than in writing. 

I think it is so important when she points out that even she makes the mistake of thinking that something that is obvious to her is just as obvious to everyone else”. This made me realize that I too make this assumption and need to be more understanding of others' opinions. I think the most important part of her speech is that she demands that women be acknowledged and respected. Adichie keeps a humorous tone when talking about serious topics which helps keep people engaged the whole time. 

Despite the numerous people from her home town criticizing her for being feminist because it is “un-African”, Adichie maintained her composure and decided not to care what others thought. This and her background are what makes her viewpoits super interesting to me. It is so important to try and understand other culture's,  and respect that the inequalities between gender is is different for every culture. Adichie has an amazing compilation of quotes, among my favorites being, “gender prescribes who we should be instead of who we are”, and “language of marriage is the language of ownership not partnership”.

          Adichie takes us back to a thousand years ago and how it would make sense that men were the rulers because they were generally stronger than women and were the main providers. The problem with this statement, however, is that these expectations of how men should act has not changed, as Adichie would say, “our idea of gender has not evolved”. Another important point that she brings up is that we not only need to focus on our daughters, but also sons differently, “we stifle the humanity of boys”. Her metaphor of putting boys in a small cage reminds me of Frye’s birdcage analogy. 

       Although I focused more on Adichie's speech rather than Enloe's book, I think that Enloe brings up a lot of topics we have discussed in class. In her book, Enloe remarks and questions not only why women aren’t more curious, but why women are no longer curious at all. 


Here is my all-time favorite quote of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s:
- Jane Brooks

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