We Should All Be Feminist Written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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Anh Truong

Professor Peter Churchill

English 68 MW 7:30

15 March 2017

“We Should All Be Feminist” written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about gender inequality, the flaw in the way society raise children and a possible solution to this matter. Adichie starts off by telling the reader about her own experience to gender inequality.The hope to be the classroom monitor after she scores the highest test grade vanishes after her teacher declares that the second highest grade student will be the class monitor because he is a boy. The teacher did not specify because he or she thought that it was “obvious”. Adichie believes that although the action is wrong, doing it so often convinces the everyone living in that society to think that it is right. There is not a written law specifically about boys being class monitor, but society makes it a “social norm” to think that it is the “right” thing to do. Even though we live in a very advance world, Adichie believes that the “ideas of gender [has not evolve] very much” (7). A million years ago, men are leaders because they are physically strong, and because the world has evolved, the qualification for a leader changes as well. However, Adichie states that we should focus more on intelligence, creativity, and innovation rather than gender, and strength. Adichie also believes that there is a flaw in the way that society raise their children. Parents teaches young girls what to be, how to be, what not to be

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and the outcome of that is now they will do the same with their kids and that creates a never ending cycle of gender inequality. On the contrary, parent teaches boys how to be strong and masculine and growing up they will think that because they are a man, they have to be hard, and not show any sign of weakness. Last but not least, Adichie concludes the article with a hope of people bringing more awareness to the idea of

feminism. Instead of letting gender inequality play out, men or whomever it is that witnessed injustices gender treatment should speak up about it. Although the situation can be as simple as not greeting the woman when she walks in the store but greet the man instead, speaking out about these “ostensibly small situations” will for sure make a change and bring awareness to feminism. Adichie adds to the fact that not only women can be a feminist, but men can too. Feminism and gender equality is a human right; therefore, both men and women must work together to change the negativity view of feminism and the equality of gender.