We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

After yesterday's rambling post, you deserve a nice, short one. And, that should be easy enough as We Should All Be Feminists is a very quick read - the first for my personal Feminist Reading Challenge in 2017.

Written originally as a speech, We Should All Be Feminists is a mix of Adichie's personal experiences and observation. I don't think I can beat the description at Goodreads, so I'm going to share a paragraph of that and then tell you my own thoughts:

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.

I found We Should All Be Feminists incisive and revealing, particularly for her unique view as an African woman who has spent a lot of time in America. I especially enjoyed reading about the differences between life as a woman in Africa and in the United States. Having said that, a lot of what she had to say was familiar. Where I may have read similar thoughts, I can't say. I've only read a few books about feminism or by feminist authors. I didn't mind the repetition at all because her perspective is a unique one and who knows? It may be the only book about feminism some people read. If so, it's a good choice because of its brevity and clarity.

Highly recommended - Especially recommended if you're looking for a very quick read about feminism and why treatment of women as equals is healthier for all concerned.

Surprise! Because the book was short and I was in a hurry (January was well under way when I decided to challenge myself to read feminist works, whether fiction or nonfiction), I opted to buy and read the book in electronic form! I know, shocking. Well, it's shocking to those who know about my aversion to e-books.

I asked for suggestions of feminist titles at Facebook and when I went back to collect the titles, I couldn't find the post. I'm going to look again because sometimes things disappear from Facebook and then reappear, presumably due to those annoying algorithms. I know I didn't delete it. But, I figure it doesn't hurt to ask for more suggestions, so please let me know if there are any feminist titles you highly recommend. I broke my book-buying ban to order a couple that were recommended on Twitter. I figure that's legit, buying books for my personal reading challenge, right? Right.


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