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Aug 14, 2018anonymouswe rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
“My own definition of a feminist is a man or a woman who says, yes, there’s a problem with gender as it is today and we must fix it, we must do better. All of us, women and men, must do better.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Great definition in my book. If you are tight on time, save yourself the time of reading and simply go to YouTube and watch the actual lecture this is based on. If you like reading way more than watching videos - this book is for you! Overall, really liked what she had to say - but I have one strong criticism that results in 4 stars instead of 5. If you are a knuckle-dragging diehard "women's place is in the kitchen, barefoot, having babies" kind of person, then this book will be eye opening for you. Otherwise, it is a pretty light weight discussion of the need for feminism based on Lagos being about 50 years behind USA and Europe in gender equality. Overall, she gets the message across in an entertaining manner that would hopefully keep the interest of people that might be opposed to her message. The only strong criticism I have is she discusses the diminishing of women in so many situations, but in a few places, puts down men for a laugh. That hypocrisy takes away from the strength of her message. I say "light weight" as a criticism because she avoids really getting into what men need to do to treat women equally, and she hardly touches on what women need to do to treat men equally. This criticism is perhaps unfounded because she is approaching this from the Lagos perspective, which is still in the stages of very basic equal treatment of women. As an American who has seen this country go from that gross inequality to largely equal treatment with time needed to allow our historical structural inequality to "age out" (or risk being replaced before they age out), this essay seems a little light in merely addressing "women can earn money to" "women should be allowed to pursue the careers they want" etc. My opinion for what it is worth.