We Should All Be Feminists Summary and Analysis  

Summary: Beginning–p. 16

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie introduces her topic by relating a memory of Okoloma, a close childhood friend who died in a plane crash in 2005. One day while the two were debating some topic or other, Okoloma called Adichie a “feminist” in a disapproving tone of voice. Adichie didn’t know what the word meant, so she passed over the comment in the moment and looked it up later in a dictionary.

Later, after becoming a successful writer and being called by some a feminist writer, she encountered several people who had negative opinions about feminists. A Nigerian journalist, for example, advised her not to call herself a feminist because feminists were known to be unhappy—so she began to call herself a “Happy Feminist.” After several such encounters, she had compiled quite a long description of herself: “a Happy African Feminist Who Does Not Hate Men and Who Likes to Wear Lip Gloss and High Heels for Herself and Not for Men.” While there is humor to these anecdotes, they illustrate that the word feminist carries many negative stereotypes and connotations.

Adichie now turns to a childhood memory. One day in school, her teacher had promised that whoever got the highest score on a test would be “class monitor”—a student who would help the teacher keep students on their best behavior. Although the ambitious 9-year-old Adichie did get the highest score, the teacher gave the role of class monitor to a mild-mannered boy instead. The teacher could not conceive of a girl being in any role of authority; she considered it obvious that only a boy could be class monitor. Looking back, Adichie notes that the norm of boys and men being in power came from repetition: when all people see is males in power, that is all they can imagine.

Considering the nature of what is “obvious” leads to another memory, this time one from her adulthood. She explains how her friend Louis—a progressive man—would often suggest that sexism was in the past, not the present. Then, one day, she and Louis were out with friends, and Adichie tipped a parking attendant with cash she brought out from her own purse. The man turned to Louis and thanked him for the tip. Louis was surprised, but then he realized what had happened: the man believed the money ultimately came from Louis because men have their own money and women don’t. This event made Adichie realize that what she considers obvious is not obvious to everyone.

Analysis: Beginning–p. 16

In many ways, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s essay follows a recognizable argumentative format. It begins by introducing the topic, giving background information, and presenting a main claim. In this introduction, Adichie explains why she is discussing the topic of feminism and tells how she was first introduced to the term feminist. Her claim is stated in the title of the essay: “We Should All Be Feminists.”

Adichie uses personal narrative to help the audience understand how she began to believe that we should all be feminists. Her first anecdotes—the many people who warn her against being a feminist—show how much negative baggage the term carries, suggesting the audience explore with her exactly why this has become the case. Then she tells two more stories. In one, she is a young schoolgirl, full of ambition, who is not allowed to exercise the authority she deserves because of her gender. In the second, she is not recognized as a self-reliant person, again because of her gender.

These experiences of injustice and gender discrimination introduce several important ideas. First, males—such as the gentle boy who became class monitor—as well as females are forced into roles that are not compatible with their real personalities due to gender expectations. Second, these ideas are ingrained in people from childhood so that they become normalized and any deviation is unthinkable. And third, injustice is more visible or “obvious” to those who are experiencing its harmful effects while others often quite naturally do not notice it.