Adichie Post

Feminism and Time

In finishing this piece, I found myself thinking two things: “Wow, that was excellent!” and “How does this relate to the theme of time?” I think the concept of feminism, intrinsically, relates to time. Time and feminism, like many socio-political ideas, relates to history and time as we know it. But not only does this correspond to a broader, century-spanning history, but an intimate and generational focused timetable.

            What I found interesting especially was Adichie’s reference to tradition. Misogyny and sexism often find root in the traditions of the past. Women, as seen in several myths, are portrayed as “lesser” or “evil” in some way. Much of Adichie’s points/suggestions reference her culture—which she shares with her friend, Ijeawele. She implores her to examine their culture, with both its feminist and anti-feminist traditions. But what truly stood out to me wasn’t the over-arching theme of hundreds of years of history and its treatment of women, but the smaller, more personal system of patriarchy and misogyny. Even Ijeawele inherited sexist norms and ideas from her upbringing, as do many women in a variety of cultures. As Adichie writes, “In every culture in the world, female sexuality is about shame” (53). Being a woman means inheriting not only generational conditioning about gender roles or womanhood, but it means shouldering hundreds of years of sexist, false ideas about women often created by men. It means handling, engaging with, and interpreting a history meant to empower men and disempower women. Indeed, time is central in understanding identity.

            I find it incredibly interesting to examine feminism and womanhood with a lens attuned to time. Tradition obviously relates to time, but in what other ways does feminism relate to time? I think discussions around expectations many women experience relate to time. For example, the idea of love and likability: “we teach girls that a large component of their ability to love is their ability to sacrifice their selves” (56). We also teach girls to be “likable”, to make themselves conform to the wants and needs of others. This sexist conditioning steals time from women—time in which they truly inhabit themselves, when they truly live. Women sacrifice their precious time to follow these rules of womanhood. Perhaps this looks like taking care of all the domestic duties, even if both spouses work. Or it looks like spending time with others when all they want is time to themselves. When a woman acts in self-interest, she is selfish and cold-hearted. But a man? He’s determined, ambitious, hardworking, deserving. A man’s time is his own, but a woman’s is not.

            Anyways, that’s how I viewed feminism in terms of time. I truly enjoyed reading this piece as I feel that I rarely get to have in-depth discussions on feminism. Time and oppression—whether it be misogyny, racism, etc.—are always linked, and in this piece, I think we can find those connections quite easily.

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