We should all be feminists | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | TEDxEuston

So some people put forward the theory of biological evolution and apes and how females bow to males. And from this topic... but the main thing is that we are not monkeys. (Audience laughter and applause) Monkeys live in trees and eat worms, while we don't. Some people will say, "Well, the poor have it hard too," and that's true. But this has nothing to do with it (audience laughter), but this has nothing to do with the topic of our conversation. Gender and class are two different types of injustice. In fact, I learned a little about systems of oppression and persecution, and how. blinding as they can be when talking to a black man.

I once talked to a black man about gender discrimination and he said to me, "Why do you always say 'My experience as a woman?' Why not 'My experience as a human being?'” Knowing that it is so. the man who often talks about his life and his experience as a black man. The gender difference is important, as men and women have different experiences, but we can change that. “But some women have real power.” Bottom power, as the term “bottom power” translates to non-Nigerian speakers, means that a woman can use her sexuality in exchange for certain services.

The lower power is not a power at all. . It simply means that a woman has a good source to benefit from another person's energy from time to time. And here, of course, we have to ask ourselves what happens when the other person is in a bad mood, sick or helpless (audience laughter). Some will say that it is one of our customs that women submit to men, but customs change. constantly. I have twin nieces who are fifteen years old and live in Laquz. If they had been born 100 years ago, they would. They have been killed for customs.

It was one of our traditions to kill the twins. So, what is the purpose of traditions? I mean, there are external customs (like dancing), but the customs represent them. Continuity in my family, I am considered the child who is interested in our ancient stories that tell about the history and culture of our ancestors. As for my brothers, they are not as interested in this matter as I am, but I cannot participate, I cannot go to the meetings and I cannot give an opinion because I am a woman. Traditions do not make people, but people make their traditions... (Applause) So, if it is true that the humanity of women is not one of our traditions, we must make it so.

I think a lot about my friend Okoloma, and. I pray that he and those who died with him in the plane crash rest in peace. His memory will be immortalized by the people who loved him. I was right that day, several years ago, when she called me a feminist. I too, when I looked up the meaning of that phrase in the dictionary, read this definition: Feminist: A person who believes in the equality of the sexes socially, politically and economically. One of the stories I heard was from my grandmother, who was a feminist. She ran away from the man she did not want to marry and eventually she married a man of her choice.

She refused, protested and imposed her opinion whenever she felt deprived of something. My grandmother didn't know the word feminist, but not that. It means she wasn't. Many of us need to reclaim that word. My definition of feminism: Feminist: any man or woman who believes that (laughter and applause) Feminist: any man or woman who believes that there is a problem when it comes to genders in our day and that we must solve it, and must do better . The best feminist is my brother Kenny. He is kind, handsome, adorable and very manly. Thank you (applause)