1.4: Feminism and Activism

Adichie’s Feminism

Adichie is an outspoken activist who focuses on race, feminism and politics. She defines feminism as believing in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. Adichie sees gender as a social construct. She also notes that it’s important not to mistake women’s rights for “human rights” because to do so would mean ignoring the systematic oppression women have faced. Feminism focuses on women because women are often mistreated by society. When Adichie accepted the PEN Pinter prize in 2018 she stated the following:

[M]y writing gave me a platform to speak about issues that I have always cared about. I do not want to use my art as an armour of neutrality behind which to hide. I am a writer and I am a citizen, and I see my speaking out on social issues as a responsibility of citizenship. I am struck by how often this speaking out is met, in Nigeria, not with genuine engagement, whether to agree or disagree, but with a desire to silence me. A journalist once helpfully summed it up for me: people don’t like it when you talk about feminism, they just want you to shut up and write.

Adichie is not afraid to use her influential position to promote change in the world, focusing her attention particularly on women’s issues in both Nigeria and the United States (YaleNews).

Public Stance on Feminism

Adichie uses her works of fiction and nonfiction literature to portray and represent women in both Nigeria and the United States. Adichie uses her work to challenge the stereotypes people have of feminists. She uses her power as a writer to educate people on what it means to be a feminist. In an interview with Trevor Noah in 2018, Adiche states, “People think a feminist is a crazy woman, who hates men and doesn’t shave” (Trevor Noah Show). Adichie aims to educate the world on feminism and clear the taboo of being a feminist. Adichie stresses the importance of, “teaching boys and young men to feel comfortable around women who are powerful, who make more money, are more talented or even more vocal" (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Feminist Activism). In a sense, Adichie is expressing that feminism goes both ways. Girls should be raised to be empowered while boys should be raised to support women who are more powerful than them. Adichie uses her platform to also speak about the perspective of feminism from different cultures and how Western feminism does not resonate with everyone; in this way, she brings awareness to the intersections of culture and feminism.

"Flawless" song

In Beyonce’s 2013 hit song “Flawless” she sampled a part of Adichie’s acclaimed TEDx talk; We Should All Be Feminists, later published as a standalone short essay in 2014. In an interview with the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, Adichie notes that she gladly gave Beyoncé permission to use excerpts from her speech, but that the onslaught of calls she received for interviews after the single’s release were shocking and made her think, “are books really that unimportant to you?” (Kiene). Adichie goes on to clarify that she and Beyonce have different ‘styles’ of feminism, saying that the singer’s version: ‘gives quite a lot of space to the necessity of men. I think men are lovely, but I don't think that women should relate everything they do to men” (Danielle). In her song Beyonce defines “feminist” in the following lyrics:

Feminst: the person who believes in the social

Political, and economic equality of the sexes

The song continues, “My Daddy taught me how to love my haters” and “My man made me feel so God damn fine,” ultimately pairing her feminism with the aid and approval of the men in her life. Despite this, Adichie stands by Beyonce’s feminism when it comes to critics claiming the singer’s overt sexuality negates feminism. Adichie says, “Whoever says they’re feminist is bloody feminist,” and that policing feminism like this is unnecessary (Kiene).

Strictly Binary Approach

In 2017, controversy surrounded Adichie’s stance on transgender women and feminism expressed in an interview on Britain’s Channel 4 News. Adichie stated, “When people talk about. ‘Are trans women women?’ my feeling is trans women are trans women” (vox.com). Many LGBTQ+ advocates were upset by these remarks, particularly because Adichie identifies as an LGBTQ+ rights advocate in Nigeria. Adichie later apologized and clarified her response stating that transgender and cisgender women are different because they face different experiences, and that one set of experiences should not be valued over the other. Adiche had also suggested that because trans women at one point experienced the world as male, they were once treated with male privilege, leaving them to have different experiences compared to cis-women (blavity.com). Although Adichie apologized for the misinterpretation of her comment, the controversy did not end there.

Adichie found herself at the center of criticism once again when she responded to an essay written by J.K. Rowling saying women’s issues were separate from transgender issues by saying that it was a “reasonable” piece. Rowling herself faced intense criticism from the LGBTQ+ community for this piece, and by aligning herself with Rowling, Adichie called further attention to her own position on trans rights. Not only does Adichie fail to acknowledge the trans movement in any of her work, which can be seen as blatant erasure, she also says that the trans movement “wishes an erosion of women as a political and biological class.” She also notes that trans activism has been a cover for predatory activities as well as using trans advocacy as an excuse to take away freedom of speech of people who may not agree with them. Many critics have come to label her as transphobic and raise the question, “can Adichie be a true feminist if she cannot merge the rights of trans women with the rights of cis women?” Intersectional feminists are clear on this position: trans women are women. Therefore, for Adichie to compartmentalize trans women is to erase their identity.

More recently, Adichie criticized “cancel culture” and the response to her comments about trans women by saying, “There’s a sense in which you aren’t allowed to learn and grow. Also forgiveness is out of the question. I find it so lacking in compassion” (theguardian.com). Although Adichie did not make a direct apology for her comments or the position she has taken, she makes an important point of criticizing cancel culture. She believes a person can grow instead of not being given space to improve themselves and learn. Adichie stood by her comment not equating transwomen to cis-women, doubling down on her views instead of offering a sincere apology about her comments about the differences between cisgender and transgender women. Though cancel culture can often misconstrue a person’s positions rather than seeking to understand their point of view, in this case, Adichie elaborated on her opinions rather than staying silent or apologizing.

As of June 2021, Adichie’s comments on trans women and LGBTQ+ rights are have been disseminated widely. Her former student, writer Akwaeke Emezi, has recently taken to Instagram to continue this longstanding feud with their teacher over Adichie’s comments. The two authors began their argument in 2017 after Adichie’s previously mentioned comments about trans women and J.K. Rowling’s essay. Emezi then took to Twitter to call out their previous teacher for her apathy towards the trans community. On June 15th, 2021, Adichie published an article on her personal addressing issues she has with Emezi. Emezi posted on Instagram the next day to state their belief that Adichie was specifically attempting to violently target and silence queer and trans authors.