Adichie (my part 3)

    Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s feminist manifesto Dear Ijeawele is timely and relevant even an ocean away in the United States. In one of her suggestions, Adichie mentions that she is angry; angry about racism and sexism, but especially sexism. She writes, “In my anger about sexism, I often feel lonely. Because I love, and live among, many people who easily acknowledge race injustice but not gender injustice” (Adichie 23). This resonates deeply with me. I often get mad at the world, and my peers usually share similar sentiments as me when my anger is about racism or gun violence or the government. When I express my anger about something that is misogynistic, however, I am met with a different response. More times than not, it is demanded that I prove something is sexist, and even if I give a sufficient defense there is no guarantee that whoever I am talking to will care. 

It is so easy for me to slip into an abyss of anger and frustration and indignation to the point that I want to throw rocks at the sky because of all of the world’s injustices. Adichie seems to not only acknowledge this bitterness, but to share it. She is definitely an optimist, however, and her suggestions are proof of that. She tells us how the world is, but also what we can do to change the world and our own situations. Optimism must come with a little bit of time travel ability, because Adichie sees clearly how the world can be improved for ALL people, regardless of gender. She is not just focused on the present, her argument incorporates the past and creates room for a new future.  It should be noted that we cannot just have hope for a better future without doing anything in the present to reconcile with the past; Adichie’s optimism is active.