Feminism is a topic often overseen by many because it can be deemed as “weak” or even “hateful” to those who encounter the word. This is slightly expected because of the frequent negative association linked to practicing feminism or being a feminist. Another major reason is because feminism is not explored as much as it deserves to be, before any serious judgements are made. In We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, being a feminist is explained and supported through Adichie’s her own personal experiences as well as observations made and noted. Being a feminist is not an easy thing to be, Adichie recognizes this as early on as pages 8 and 9 when she explains how her friend called her a feminist and that she could tell it definitely
In choosing for this research project I have decided to challenge the ethical problem of the shortcomings of feminism. There has been much debate over feminism, the questioning of its purpose, its design, its inclusiveness, it is stance on other matters that connect to it. In a quest in finding the shortcomings, and bringing them to light. Using other essays as sources I plan to make this bibliography a journey into the scope not just feminism, but the history of feminism, intersectional feminism, the wage gap, and what defines a feminist. We will take into account of all aspects of feminism and how authors of some essays included have offered their
In the essay, “Bad Feminist,” by english professor and novelist, Roxane Gay, examines the “myth” of “essential feminism,”which means that there are right and wrong ways to being a feminist. Through her own personal experiences as a feminist, she argues the expectations, and labeling due to cultural stereotypes for not living up to feminist ideals. She claims that there is no certain way to being a feminist. Throughout her essay, Roxanne does an astonishing job at appealing to her audience with strong, emotional context by going into detail with her own thoughts are about feminism. Also, her references such as, popular magazines,
Women are often confined to a set of ideals and expectations because of one simple fact: they are women. Many of the women who contributed to this book have faced gender stereotyping and discrimination. Instead of allowing traditional social norms to confine them to an unwanted lifestyle, they challenged these conventional ideals, risking failure and facing condemnation from strangers as well as people close to them. People often associate feminism with negativity and pessimism. In “Feminism is a Dirty Word,” Cindy Simon Rosenthal talks about how people refuse to define themselves as a “feminist.” However, the movement does not advocate for women’s special privileges. Feminism celebrates social equality and supports the utilization of all talents.
Roxane Gay, author of the article entitled “Bad Feminist”, is a very accomplished American feminist writer. Her publication of “Bad Feminist” in 2012 gained national public attention (1). Feminism, as defined in the dictionary, is “the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes” (2), but Gay explains throughout her article that being a feminist is not just as simple as agreeing with this need for gender equality. The feminist label is too narrow and because of this the feminist movement is breaking apart. In this piece, Gay addresses how our society currently defines feminism and explains why this definition does not encompass everybody that it should.
I had never really thought about what it meant to be a feminist, it was just a role I had unquestionably assumed as I consider myself to be an advocate of women empowerment. After last week’s readings, I began to question what exactly does being a feminist entails, and why the label carries very different meanings and connotations to different people. There is a common misconception that feminists are radicals, seeking to be superior to men. This is rooted in the fact that women today do not face the same struggles as its predecessors; namely, the inability to vote, work, study, and own property, to name a few. It is true that I have more rights and privileges than women such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth,
Both Adichie and Coates wrote popular contemporary writings which addressed serious issues in ways that spoke to the reader in different perspectives. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's “We should all be feminist” essay criticized society in a somewhat humorous way. Adichie showed her perspective of society as foolish for going along with the norms. She is a storyteller who uses humor to illustrate knowledge and perspective about injustices in our society. Coates book was written in a heartfelt poetic letter to his son about the cruelty and violence African American men and women go through. Both authors wanted to appeal to the audience by bringing in personal experience as well as a context from the world around them in hopes of giving the reader
Feminism has become an ugly word. Some say it does not even live up to its definition anymore. However, the definition remains unchanged in the pages of history. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary’s definition of Feminism reads, “The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” If one digs deep into this definition, beyond the surface of society’s view on feminism today, one can see that feminism would benefit both sexes. The true ideals of feminism break down gender roles, thus benefitting men, women and future generations.
The modern definition of feminism: “an ideology that, in its most basic form, directly opposes sexism by supporting gender equality and portraying women and men as equal.” (Finsterbusch 59). This definition was the early direction towards treating women like human beings rather than a housebound body, and this is why feminism should not be viewed as a harmful ideology. By exemplifying the importance of the ideology of feminism, by refuting those who claim that women have used feminism to exploit their personal wants and desires, and by presenting women’s first hand encounters of inequality, case studies, sound arguments and documented research one will be persuaded that the ideology of feminism is not discrimination towards men, but rather an encouragement for a woman’s rights and equality.
The intentions of ‘Feminism’ are still often misinterpreted even today in the twenty-first century despite this being a modern era. Marilyn Frye’s discussion on the role of women in society in the text “The Politics of Reality” focuses on her definition of ‘oppression’, its criteria and how it applies to feminist theory. Frye immediately opens her discussion with this statement; “it is a fundamental claim of feminism that women are oppressed”, (1983, p:1). It is important to note that she has used the word “claim” as it implies that the oppression of women is still a matter of debate. As a disclaimer, she makes it clear that the purpose of this text is not to prove that women are in fact oppressed, but to gain clarity on the meaning of the term
Though the media has maligned feminism as a drive for selfish fulfillment by female professionals, those who stand to gain the most are actually those who have the least. The demand for full equality for all women is profoundly radicalizing when it addresses the additional layers of discrimination women experience because of class, race, sexuality, disability, and
In "We Should All Be Feminists," Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie describes experiences and events that have happened in her life to explain why everyone should be a feminist. Adichie starts her essay off with an anecdote from here teenage years, in which she first heard the word "feminist," along with the negative tone that is associated with it, even though she did not know what it meant. She then goes into more anecdotes about when she first used the word "feminist" to describe herself, and how she shut down the stereotypes associated with the word by calling herself "A Happy African Feminist Who Does Not Hate Men and Who Likes to Wear Lip Gloss and High Heels for Herself and Not for Men." Throughout the rest of the essay, Adichie begins to discuss
In her Ted Talk “We Should All Be Feminists” Adichie defines a feminist as “A man or woman whose mindset is ‘Yes, there's a problem with gender as it is today, and we must fix it. We must do better.’" This definition is contradictory; although Adichie claims to want to make feminism an inclusive definition, she excludes all those who do not identify within the term “man” or “woman”. She herself admits that there is a problem with gender that must be fixed, but her restrictive language suggests that she might be part of that problem. Adichie is upholding a gender hierarchy by using these exclusive terms because removing these terms would cause the hierarchy to tumble down and she would consequently run the risk of becoming part of a group of societal outcasts.
Adichie first realized the problem when she began discussing her initial experience of being called a feminist. She was was arguing with her friend Okoloma and he called her a feminist. Adiche blantanty described that it seemed more of
Adichie is sassy yet powerful when introducing her topic. Where people in her essay seem to be closed minded, she is open minded and she lets her readers experience that because that is who she is. She has nothing to hide and makes that well known throughout the entire introduction. She approaches feminism in a way that strikes me as something internal. Something she possesses deep within as if it were a part of her from the beginning.
In the transcript, “We should all be feminists” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the author explores several stories in her life that contain gender issues about sexuality, gender inequality and double standard, which show that the idea of feminists is still needed in present-day. Over time the gender issue has cause a grave injustice. This essay wills examines the conception of norms about double standard, gender inequality, and sexuality from Adichie life. It wills portrayal norms issues about gender to realize certain matter a long history that are not important anymore to bring a positive change.