We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Nonfiction
This 23 page essay is an adaption of the author’s TED Talk on the same subject.
“With humor and levity, here Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century—one rooted in inclusion and awareness. She shines a light not only on blatant discrimination, but also the more insidious, institutional behaviors that marginalize women around the world, in order to help readers of all walks of life better understand the often masked realities of sexual politics. Throughout, she draws extensively on her own experiences—in the U.S., in her native Nigeria, and abroad—offering an artfully nuanced explanation of why the gender divide is harmful for women and men, alike.” from Goodreads
In case it still isn’t clear to people why focusing on the rights of women is important, here are just a few of the news stories that have come across my news readers this week.
Boko Haram denies truce, says kidnapped girls married
“In a new video message, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau says the schoolgirls have converted to Islam and married off. “The issue of the girls is long forgotten because I have long ago married them off,” he says, laughing.”
Woman gets 1 year in Iranian jail for attending volleyball game
“An Iranian-British woman detained while trying to attend a men’s volleyball game in Iran has been found guilty of spreading propaganda against the ruling system and sentenced to a year in prison, her lawyer said Sunday.”
Iran hangs woman for killing a man she said tried to rape her
“Jabbari was found guilty of premeditated murder in 2009 but the sentence was only carried out after Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the verdict. The victim’s family could have saved Jabbari’s life by accepting blood money but they refused to do so.
Iranian media reports say the family insisted on their legal rights under the Islamic principle of “an eye for an eye†partly because Jabbari accused Sarbandi of being a rapist in what became a highly publicized media campaign.”
India court says ban on female make-up artists illegal
 “Two judges said the gender discrimination was unconstitutional. A powerful trade union has long argued that men needed the jobs. “
“As former NFL punter Chris Kluwe demonstrated this week with his scathing attack on Gamergate and subsequent total lack of doxxing, when a prominent man speaks critically about Gamergate, he can do so without worrying for his safety, despite calling the movement’s followers “slackjawed pickletits.” But when a prominent woman speaks about Gamergate with even a fraction of Kluwe’s fire, the response is immediate and overwhelming: She is threatened, insulted, and attacked by dozens if not hundreds of different voices, on every platform available.”
Ugh, those stories. I hadn’t seen that one about the kidnapped girls getting married off. That’s so awful. And Gamergate. . .sigh.
On the plus side, I’ve never heard of that author, and now I have a new TED talk to listen to.