"... I felt such a resentment. I thought: Are books
really that unimportant to you? Another thing I hated was that I read
everywhere: Now people finally know her, thanks to Beyoncé, or: She must be
very grateful. I found that disappointing."- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This was in response to questions about her speech which was
featured in Beyonce's song 'Flawless'. Say what?!! Hmmmm....
Anyway, before I begin, how're you doin (in my best Wendy
Williams' voice). Hope you've had a good week. Here in Nigeria, we have been
busy; from arresting some allegedly corrupt judges in the middle of night, to
the good news that 21 out of the over 200 school girls abducted from Chibok
2years age have been released. A lot of people doubted the authenticity of the
abduction story, but whatever happened, I am glad that some of them are out. I
hope they'll do proper counselling for them as they must have gone through a lot at the hands of those animals.
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| Courtesy: Stargist.com |
So, back to my story. You know the song 'Flawless' by
Beyonce? You know Chimamanda's speech featured in it. Well, after that song came out in 2013, apparently people started calling her for interviews and she became more
popular. See, Chimamanda is one girl I admire so much and have utter respect
for. However, to hear her say that Beyonce's feminism is different from hers is
quite disappointing. What is feminism? Is it not the the theory of the
political, economic, and social equality of the sexes?? Who is a Feminist? As
Chimamanda herself put it: the person who believes in the social, Political,
and economic equality of the sexes.
This then brings me to my question, are there different types
of feminism? According to my sister Chimamanda, Beyonce’s feminism ‘gives quite
a lot of space to the necessity of men’. Isi gini??!! (say what??!!). When did
feminism say that men are not necessary? Both women are married, and living
happily (I presume) with their husbands; so I believe feminism is not about
that. Talks like this make some women think feminism is against marriage or
submitting to your husband and vice versa. Feminism is a bigger struggle than who wears the big pants in the home. When you know that women are paid less
than men for the same quality of work, or that women cannot drive cars, have a
say in who they marry, or vote just because of their gender; you then realise
that we have bigger things to struggle for.
Truth be told, Beyonce is a more popular star, Chimamanda is
a star in her own field, but generally speaking, the whole world knows Beyonce,
period! Whether we read books or not is not the issue here; but these are two
women who have great platforms to use and fight for a cause that a lot of women
are unable to do, and they cannot agree on what feminism is? If Chimamanda didn’t
believe in Beyonce’s Feminism why did she allow her speech to be used in the
song? I hope it’s not the green-eyed monster I can detect here. I mean, she got
upset that people were asking her about the song, so what? You featured in the
song, didn’t you? You can still use that opportunity to sell yourself and your
books. If you didn’t want the popularity, then you shouldn’t have been on the
song with her, simple.
Anyway, women need to unite and fight a common battle, avoid unnecessary
bickering and petty jealousy. These are two forces to reckon with, they should
both unite and use their platform for good. In my opinion, Chimamanda came out
sounding envious. She might say she didn’t mean it the way it was presented in
the interview, but she said it. Beyonce is a star, you are a star, and it is
not a competition of who is more popular. Even if it were, Beyonce will
definitely win. I like her and her books are sooo good, but on this, she
sounded petty.
Have a fabulous weekend.
Hugs...
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