Tafaani Khan
May 1, 2018
Professor Edozien
FYSEM-UA 215
Final Paper
The Good, The Bad, and The Changing Face of Femininity
“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent”-Madeleine Albright. With the recent initiation of the Time’s Up Movement and the #MeToo Movement, against sexual assault and harassment of society’s destitute, rich, famous, unsung, outspoken, and silent women, the strength and resilience of the female body has been distinguished now more than ever before. In fact, this is more than a local or even national campaign, but a profound global awareness, in which female authors, actresses, activists, and artists are ultimately defying society’s “upper-hand advantage”. As a believer in gender equality and human impartiality, I have been inclined to explore how women are globally aiding this movement, specifically through their published literary works and consequent artistic compositions. Renowned novelist, short story writer, nonfiction enthusiast, and acclaimed young author of African literature, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is a major contributor to writing with a larger purpose… particularly alluding to feminism, which falls under the ideology of gender roles in modern society.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a prominent Nigerian writer of novels, short stories, and nonfiction, grew up as one of six children in an Igbo family, specifically in the town of Nsukka in Enugu. “When the novelist was growing up in Nigeria, she was not used to being identified by the color of her skin. This changed when she arrived in the United States for college. Race, as an idea, became something that she had to navigate and learn” (NPR). Applying her passion for equality, in terms of both gender and race, Adichie employed the technicality of writing to express her true sentiments on a global platform. From her distinguished novels Americanah and Purple Hibiscus, Adichie has displayed her passion for exploring the intersection between the female gender with race and class in West African and North American societies. Thus, her strident beliefs have stemmed from her personal upbringing and experiences in Nsukka and the drastic move to the United States to foster her university-education. “I remember my first-year in undergrad I was sitting in class and just looking around, utterly confused. I thought, what are they saying? It was kind of a performance… When women do say something, not only is it more likely to be ignored, but the women themselves are accepting of it being ignored. So they’re less likely to push back. That happens less often in Nigeria. Women in corporate settings are more likely to be vocal” (Adichie). Adichie sheds a new light on the aura surrounding feminism; she advocates for underprivileged women to start demanding their rightful equity, instead of upholding the expectation that certain authoritative male figures in the workforce will willingly change their demeanor towards current and future women. Essentially, while global women, at large, have been regarded as the victims of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, unequal pay, inferior education, and inequitable marriages, it is time for women to initiate their worth and availing stature among their male colleagues, supervisors, husbands, and friends. “I think women in the west have a lot more invested in being liked. And being liked if you’re female means a certain thing. So in workplaces, women who are bosses in Nigeria are fierce. The people who work for them, men and women, respect them. But, these are women who very keenly perform gender stereotypes when they go back home. And if they give a public interview, they have to say, ‘My husband supported me and allowed me to…’” (Adichie).
Through her works of fiction and raw, honest opinions in works of nonfiction, Adichie writes with the purpose of creating a shared, universal experience, introducing a broad, yet pertinent call to action, surrounding delusions of feminism. As in Americanah, Adichie recalls the controversy surrounding the protagonist, Ifemelu, and her candid journey of self-identification and acceptance, upon arriving in the United States. “I’ve heard from many women, particularly black women, who really disliked Ifemelu… I hear they say that she wasn’t grateful to have a good man. Why does she have to be grateful to her man? Do we have the same standards for men? We don’t. So she cheats on a good man for no reason. And she’s crucified for it, but if we turned it around and she were male… no big deal” (Adichie). Think of the juxtaposed scenario Adichie insinuates in her interview; why should women succumb to the regulations that bypass their male counterparts? Adichie creatively uses her writing to express a proportion of herself and stands by her character of Ifemelu, despite the diminution from her audience; “When I say I admire her, I admire women who live life on their own terms. Not to make a point, but simply because it is the life they want to lead. And often the world doesn’t give them the room” (Adichie). Ifemelu essentially challenged the norms of femininity, writing her own love story, providing her own financial support, and evidently defining her own story.
Furthermore, in the compelling, defiant novel, Purple Hibiscus, Adichie constructs the prevalent theme of gender boundaries, as seen through the progressive growth of the novel’s delicate protagonist, Beatrice. Instilling the motif of female uprising and empowerment, Adichie paints the fluorescent growth of Beatrice, who has predominantly lived under her husband’s shadow. To free herself and her sheltered children from the suffocative dominance of her resolute husband, Beatrice employs tenacious action to end Eugene’s life and expand beyond her “domestic” sphere of a loyal housewife. “Mama shakes her head, and her scarf starts to slip off. She reaches out to knot it again as loosely as before… giving her the air of unkempt women in Ogbete market, who let their wrappers unravel so that everyone sees the hole-riddled slips they have on underneath. She does not seem to mind that she looks this way” (Adichie 295-296). Consider the diction and syntax Adichie exploits to convey this significant evolvement of a once restrained woman; Beatrice is substantially liberated, from the way she personally dresses to her overall outlook towards a boundless society.
As an extension to current events, Adichie, in her recent sit down conversation with Hillary Clinton at the PEN America Festival, questioned her regarding the tension of politics and feminism: “Adichie had asked Clinton whether she had fought Trump hard enough, why white women voted for Trump, and why Clinton described herself as a wife first in her Twitter bio” (Vox). For Adichie, a strong woman in tough politics, such as Clinton, has the ultimate power to unite women against society’s constricting “leaders”. As Adichie writers in her reminiscent letter of Clinton, “Yet millions of Americans, women and men, love her intelligence, her industriousness, her grit; they feel loyal to her, they will vote with enthusiasm for her.” Thus, individuals have come to adore and support Clinton for who she is, not as an ordinary female character, but as the embodiment of a driven female.
Of course, the preeminent question is: did Chimamanda successfully reclaim the narrative she presented? Adichie’s phenomenal piece, The Purple Hibiscus, has successfully externalized the “hidden” messages behind feminism: a woman is more than appearance, but rather a strong, resilient figure that society should praise. Adichie’s opinion towards feminist societies has solidified through her meticulous research and publications for her intended global audience. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has succeeded in reclaiming her narrative and making people feel differently about what is on the ground now: conversation is the key to awareness, which promotes universal education and consequently, the desired transformation in society. Both men and women should openly embrace the dialect of gender and gender roles to progressively change the status quo. “The world is such a wonderful, diverse, multi-faceted place that there’s somebody that’s going to like you-you don’t need to twist yourself into shapes” (Adichie).