My 2 star review of
We Should All Be Feminists, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie :-
Spoiler:
I give this very short work of nonfiction two stars, very reluctantly. The book is introductory. That determined its rating. It simply was boring to read. The reason for it was that quite a sizable chunk of this book comprised unsurprising anecdotes. The book is well meaning. It is also essential to educating young girls - and boys - about feminism.
I made jokes about Chimamanda Adichie's long name. Did that make me anti-feminist? Or perhaps xenophobic? Surely not racist. I am neither white nor black. I am brown-skinned. A strain of genes from India, living in Mauritius. I have listened to Adichie's witty discourse on YouTube once. The latter was much more interesting than the book.
I give 'We Should All Be Feminists' a second star because of an example of how misogynists who are male harm their own masculine gender by deriding women. When we think of what we do to women daily, really think about it, I mean, it might give us males sleepless nights. How does it often not do so is a small mystery in itself.
I have little to decorticate in this small book. It is a book that is going to remain popular for a long time. Too bad it did not give me more info and more insight into feminism in Nigeria. There was some bravado about Lagos being more vibrant than London or New York, so maybe Adichie touched a nerve with some of these cities' residents.
Adichie is not only a feminist, she is also a black feminist. I'm very glad whenever someone oppressed in life gets a break and becomes a useful celebrity. Adichie is a militant with a functioning brain. She deals her cards well. In the bipartisanship world of politics in the US and the UK, it is refreshing to see someone center our attention on feminism, a word that is still sadly contaminated with negativity.
Feminism is treated like alchemy. An outdated, decorative field, according to well intentioned males in Adichie's life. But when having insisted on bearing the torch, Adichie meets with resistance from both sexes. I am disappointed in this book, but I am also curious about whether other nonfiction books from her can yield something volatile and pertinent and pleasing to the mind. I think Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie can deliver on that front.