One of the most prominent faces in the literary circle has just written an extremely powerful essay titled, “Dear Ijeawele, or a femininst manifesto in fifteen suggestions”. Acclaimed Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who has always been extremely vocal about her stand as a feminist, wrote the essay, consisting of 9,221 words, in the form of a letter to a friend, Ijeawele, who recently became a mother and posted it on her Facebook page.
Here are some excerpts from the piece.
“Please know that I take your charge – how to raise her feminist – very seriously. And I understand what you mean by not always knowing what the feminist response to situations should be. For me, feminism is always contextual.”
“Be a full person. Motherhood is a glorious gift, but do not define yourself solely by motherhood. Be a full person. Your child will benefit from that.”
“You don’t even have to love your job; you can merely love what your job does for you – the confidence and self-fulfillment that come with doing and earning. Reject the idea of motherhood and work as mutually exclusive. Our mothers worked full time while we were growing up, and we turned out well – at least you did, the jury is still out on me.”
“In these coming weeks of early motherhood, be kind to yourself. Ask for help. Expect to be helped. There is no such thing as a Superwoman. Parenting is about practice – and love.”
“Sometimes mothers, so conditioned to be all and do all, are complicit in diminishing the role of fathers.”
“Teach her that ‘gender roles’ is absolute nonsense. Do not ever tell her that she should do or not do something “because you are a girl.””
“‘Gender neutral’ is silly because it is premised on the idea of male being blue and female being pink and ‘gender neutral’ being its own category. Why not just have baby clothes organized by age and displayed in all colors? The bodies of male and female infants are similar, after all.”
To read the full essay, click here.
