Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: “We Should All Be Feminists”

“We Should All Be Feminists” was a speech delivered by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for a TEDxEuston conference in London, England, in December 2012; she later adapted it for publication as a brief book. In her address, Adichie, a self-proclaimed feminist, creative writer, and essayist, discusses how gender and the roles associated with gender hold women and men to different standards and different expectations that may not fit their aspirations. Adichie speaks specifically about Nigeria but observes that the message can be applied globally. She provides an example of a woman with the same educational level and job as her husband but completes most of the housework and childcare and often thanks her husband when he helps. Adichie goes on to question why girls are taught to aspire to marriage but boys are not, and the ramifications of this practice. She discusses how raising boys to be “hard men,” as is the phrase in Nigeria, suppresses their humanity and teaches them to hide their authentic selves.