By Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
I often make the mistake of thinking that something which is obvious to me, is just an obvious to everyone else.
A man is just as likely as a woman to be intelligent, innovative, creative. We have evolved but our ideas of gender have not.
Each time they ignore me, I feel invisible. I feel upset. I want want to tell them that I’m just as human as the man just as worthy of acknowledgement.
I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femininity. And I want to be respected in all my femaleness.
Culture does not make people. People make culture. If it is true that the full humanity of woman is not our culture, then we can and must make it our culture.
For centuries the world divided humans into two groups and then proceeded to exclude and oppress one group. It is only fair that the solution to the problem should acknowledge that.
We teach females that in relationships, compromise is what a woman is more likely to do.
Gender matters everywhere in the world. We should begin to dream about and plan for a different world. A fairer world. A world of happier men and happier women.
What is the point of culture? Culture functions ultimately to ensure that preservation and continuity of a people.
The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be rather than recognising how we are. Imagine how much happier we would be, how much freer to be our true individual selves, if we didn’t have the weight of gender expectations.
This amazing book can be bought here.
The World According to Pip 