Ellen Soares – Conversation 4

In the TEDTalk “We Should All Be Feminists” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, she defines feminist as a person of any gender who knowledge that has a problem with gender and equality in our society and wants to fix it. She also gives some misconceptions of feminists that she heard in her life, like unhappy woman who couldn’t find a husband, a non-African or someone who hate men, hate bras, lip gloss or high-heels, for example. She states that we should all be feminists because genders expectations are not fair for both genders, “we have evolved; but it seems that our ideas of gender have not evolved” and we would be happier if the world was a better place for everyone. According to Adichie, we can be feminists changing our culture to include women on it, raising girls and boys differently than we have done until now, teach focusing on abilities, not in gender, and not having the weight of gender expectations. Adichie tells some experiences she had on her life to exemplify the gender discrimination. When she was young, at school, a professor couldn’t let her be the class monitor because she was a women, even though she had the best grade in the class. Women can’t be successful, so the men don’t feel insecure about it. And she also brings how women are supposed to do more housework than men. Adichie points out that woman don’t need to prove their worth, but men should recognize themselves as part of the problem, question gender and take action about it.

For me, being a feminist is any person who believe and want the equality of the genders. I do consider myself a feminist, I believe that any person should be able to take the decisions about your life, your body and shouldn’t be affected about other people’s opinion about it.