Adichie Ted Talk

Westerners often hear of how oppressed women are in Saudi Arabia. As a result, one might expect these women to be vocal about their challenges living in such a country. However, contrary to the assumption that they are unhappy, they are quick to defend their country, saying that their often overbearing abayas are parts of their tradition. These women say that they still enjoy freedoms and that “[i]t is Western women… who have been manipulated into becoming the toys of men” (Kristof 272). Even so, they still receive unequal treatment from men. Saudi women journalists must stay in their own rooms when they work while men do not. Because of these types of segregated and deleterious practices, Nicholas Kristof argues in his essay “Saudis in Bikinis” that the West is not being paternalistic in trying to advocate for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia; they are trying to free women who have never tasted true liberty. It is

Chimamanda Adichie goes on by saying that “They show people as one thing and that one thing only over and over again and that is what they become.” She felt very ashamed for falling victim into the consequences of the single story trap. The single story is a way to misinterpret and stereotype someone, place, or issue. None of us should believe the perspective we see or hear about, rather we should hear others stories, we shouldn’t be quick to judge. She ends her Ted Talk by say “Stories matter, many stories matter. Stories have been used to disposes and malign but stories can be used to empower and humanize, stories can break the dignity of people but stories can also repair the broken dignity….. When we reject the single story when we realize

Adichie is able to use her own life experiences, her personal knowledge, and her undeniable farcical character to create another side to the single story. Adichie’s inspirational words are nothing short of being honest, palpable, and sufficient enough to cause all people to reconsider their views. The end to Adichie’s speech is inspired by a thought, “That when we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise” (Adichie). Concluding with the thought that we ourselves achieve a serenity whilst remaining open minded to the goodness of the people around

In “News Coverage of a Woman’s Rights Campaign,” Saudi women are driving even though it is against the law and they could be thrown in jail. The women consider driving as a right that they should have. Mrs. Qahtani said, “I woke up believing with every part of me that this is my right, I woke up believing this is my duty, and I was no longer afraid,” (Collections 123 lines 19-20). Since men in Saudi Arabia can drive, they don’t understand what the women are going though. “Women in Saudi Arabia see other women in the Middle East making revolutions, women in Yemen and Egypt at the forefront of revolutions, being so bold, toppling over entire governments… The women of Saudi Arabia looked at themselves and they realized, ‘Wow! We can’t even drive,” (Collections 124 lines 43-49). The Saudi women want to make a revolution, they want to be able to do what the men can

The Danger of Power Our many stories shape and define who we are and without them we are nothing. But which is worse, the feeling of not having a story or being defined by a single story? Either way, as vulnerable and susceptible as we are to each other’s judgment, society will have defined us before we even have a chance to tell it ourselves.

She ends the presentation saying that a single story can turn into a stereotype and cause problems with the way a person views others. If people are not open-minded to the fact that there is more than one story, then they will live a life of uncertainty. Single stories mostly provide negative views, but the positives and true aspect is never stated. People must seek and question different perspectives other than the single story in order to feel a sense of paradise.

In the short story “The danger of a single story” by Adichie, a single story means your perspective on a person or object without knowing the full story. The danger involved in a single story is misunderstanding and believing that one gender, race, religion is superior to another without knowing the person and how they are like, but just criticizing them on their country's background.

Lastly, the TED talk The Dangers of a Single Story encapsulates what the idea of a single story truly is. The speaker, Chimamanda Adichie, while attending an American college, her roommate asked her to play her “tribal music” from Africa. The author did not know what tribal music meant and proceeded to play American pop songs. She later realized that the reason her American roommate asked her to play tribal music was because in her eyes, all Africans were exactly as how they were portrayed and exactly what her singular idea of them was Chimamanda herself was also the victim of buying into a single story because while growing up in an upper middle class society, she had a houseboy whom she knew was very

One story, one opinion, one thought make up the flawed judgement of a race. In the presentation given by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie an idea projected throughout her speech is that there a single story. A single story is the one common view people form of a race just from what they know, it does not accept new ideas. Also, there is room for more in any perspective, new stories can change the views, and Adachie said that "when we reject the singe story, when we realize there's never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise." Books and writing often show what one knows, and not about a topic the writer is clueless about. To add on, writers never experience the other side of the story, just the one story they know of. For example,

Throughout, Nujood Ali and Delphine Minoui’s, autobiography, I Am Nujood Age 10 and Divorced, the authors provoke detailed thought and inspire the targeted audience about cultural traditions and women’s rights in the Yemeni society. Ali and Minoui’s purpose is to provide a deeper understanding of the Yemeni society to the rest of the world while acknowledging and analyzing social norms for both men and women. Ali and Minoui work unremittingly to achieve a touching and motivational tone in order to successfully educate their audience and mesmerize them with the intriguing, impactful, and personal story of Nujood Ali’s arranged marriage and fight for a divorce. Nujood Ali and Delphine Minoui integrate personal stories and facts from the Yemeni

Some of the men had white, long outfit the way Arab men do in their own country, and couple of them had short sleeve and jeans, but the wives, not only had black long veil to cover from head to toe, they covered their face with some black fabric. Our table was close to their table, one of the women pulled up the fabric over her face to drink some water, and the waiter came along, I didn’t understand the Arabic, but her husband said something to her and immediately she covered her face again until the waiter left. When I saw this, I felt bad for those women, how come in a hot summer day, the men can choose whatever they want to wear, but poor women cannot uncover their faces to eat or drink something without their husband’s permission. I believe that not every woman can, or have the courage to stand up for their rights, and in this situation, makes our duty more serious and more important to fight for women’s right, to speak up for those who do not have the voice, to advocate them, to defend their right to be free to be as educated as men, to be as active citizen as men among their societies.

In recent years, in the United States, the nation’s view towards Middle Eastern women has been altered due to their involvement in domestic and global terrorism. In addition, news of Middle Eastern women being mistreated by men and societal circumstances because of gender has arisen. In other words, Middle Eastern women are subjected to gender-based violence and gender inequality as a result of their sex. In Anne Meneley’s Tournament of Values: Sociability and Hierarchy in a Yemeni Town, Meneley briefly touches upon gender-based violence and gender inequality, but focuses more on how hierarchy plays a role in the way sociability is developed in Zabid, a Yemeni town. When I read Anne Meneley’s Tournament of Values, I learned that in Zabid, women play a pivotal role in building relations, the economy, domestics, and fashion. Active can be defined as an act of physical engagement. In the contrast, passive can be defined as not taking part on what is happening or what occurs to others. Yemeni women do not always play passively; they also partake in the active role.

The subject of women and their empowerment has always been one of controversy. Even though the United States and many other countries have made great strides in gender equality, men and women are still not equal. Although this problem is beginning to disappear in many countries, it was once much more significant. The United States, a country with one of the world’s smallest gender gaps, used to be one of its worst offenders. Prior to World War 2, women were rarely seen in the workforce with minor exceptions. As a result of the crisis, the men who traditionally held the labor jobs joined the war effort which left the women to support their families and the economy. During The Second World War, women played a key role in keeping the economy afloat and keeping the military supplied. Today, the United States is one of the countries getting closer to gender equality and all of those are reaping the benefits as some of the world’s greatest economies. Despite the progress, some countries such as Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia are still highly gender biased. This is made evident by the catastrophic assault suffered by Afghanistan women on their human rights during more than twenty years of war and the repressive rule of the Taliban . Coincidentally, despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid . This is simply a microcosm of the pattern that can be identified around the world. This pattern can be identified

Inequality between men and women has been an issue that is present in every aspect of some cultures that aren’t always necessarily the United States. Some women in Yemen, for example, have been oppressed by being greatly controlled by the word of a man for major decisions and even the slightest little things. Men in the Islamic viewpoint are superior to women, which is why they have very few rights. The Islamic religion is one of the most practiced religions in Yemen which makes society have such traditional beliefs that consist of so-called “masculine” and “feminine” roles (“How Does Gender Inequality in Yemen Affect Wellbeing”). These roles define men as the money provider of a family and women as a housekeeper (“How Does Gender Inequality in Yemen Affect Wellbeing”). Women are not allowed to provide anything with their money to their families— that is only a man’s job. Women are also dependent on a man to decide whether or not they can travel outside of the nation or just simply leave the house.

Now more than ever, gender equality is an arising issue that is coming to surface throughout the world. In the United States, the gender equality gap is closing, in sectors like women in the workplace, and their pay wage when compared to men. Luckily enough, in the United States, women do not and have not had to worry about being arrested for driving a vehicle, eating at a non-gender segregated restaurant, or getting a job without prior permission from their male counterpart, or male guardian. In Saudi Arabia, these laws that are seen as absurd in the United States were and in some cases, still are, an everyday routine for the women living in the Middle East country. Although there are extreme cases of gender equality oppressing females in Saudi Arabia, the city of Riyadh is making serious changes to progressing women's rights, and narrowing the gender gap between men and women in Saudi Arabia.