Best Feminist Quotes From Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an outspoken writer whose book We Should All Be Feminists became an instant bestseller. The African-American author is out with a new book -- a guide to raising feminist daughters, called Dear Ijeawele, Or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. She is one of the most active campaigners for feminism in today's world, and is the acclaimed fiction writer of Americanah, Purple Hibiscus and more. She was named one of Fortune Magazine's 50 greatest leaders. She is credited for introducing a whole new generation t

o African literature and for urging her readers to think differently about race, identity and gender. Here are some of this feminist icon's most inspiring quotes: 

On Ambition

We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls, you can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful.

On the Feminist Tag

Some people ask: “Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights, or something like that?” Because that would be dishonest. Feminism is, of course, part of human rights in general—but to choose to use the vague expression human rights is to deny the specific and particular problem of gender.

On Marriage

A woman at a certain age who is unmarried, our society teaches her to see it as a deep personal failure. And a man, after a certain age isn’t married, we just think he hasn’t come around to making his pick.

On Masculinity

But by far the worst thing we do to males—by making them feel they have to be hard—is that we leave them with very fragile egos. The harder a man feels compelled to be, the weaker his ego is.  

On Appearance

The sad truth of the matter is that when it comes to appearance, we start off with men as the standard, as the norm. Many of us think that the less feminine a woman appears, the more likely she is to be taken seriously. A man going to a business meeting doesn’t wonder about being taken seriously based on what he is wearing—but a woman does.

On The Feminist Movement

The whole goal of feminism is to become redundant. My dream is for a world where I won’t have to call myself a feminist because there will be gender justice. And to get there, it has to be a mass movement.

Also Read: Inspiring Feminist Quotes From 7 Authors