Ngozi Adichie's Essay We Should All Be Feminist

Great Essays
Section A Take a second and think of the dirtiest “f-word” you can fathom. That's right, you should be thinking of the word “feminism.” More people every day are offended by the concept of feminism than the use of any other “f-word” to be thought of. Men and women ask why women are still fighting when there's supposedly nothing left to fight for, but feminism is still a popular subject. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explores the taboos of feminism and its stereotypes in her essay We Should All Be Feminists. Drawing from her own personal experiences as an African woman, Adichie’s essay is a rallying cry for all to be feminists.
First, Adichie provides context and an opportunity for understanding with mention of a previous TEDx talk, entitled The Danger of the Single Story.” In the said speech, Adichie discusses “how stereotypes limit and shape our thinking, especially about Africa” (Adichie 3). Africa is described by multiple sources of being “socially stagnant” and “cold and critical”. Although, lately a generation of optimists have been pushing for the change South Africa has been waiting years for. The idea of feminism is ever more pressing in South Africa as opposed to the (comparatively) progressive United States, but older generations are still left in a climate of lethargic progress. While giving her readers context on the limiting social progress of South Africa, Adichie is also establishing
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If only boys are made class monitor, then at some point we will all think, even if unconsciously, that the class monitor has to be a boy. If we keep seeing only men as heads of corporations, it starts to seem ‘natural’ that only men should be heads of corporations. (13)
This is repeated throughout the entire essay for nearly every assertion and gives a chance for the personal understanding of each argument, making the cohesive use of exemplification, narration, and analyzation a highly effective strategy.
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