Dear Ijeawele

Wisdom For Our Age

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie followed her book, We Should All Be Feminists by a slim volume that every woman should read and gift to young women they know. She wrote Dear Ijeawele Or A Feminist Manifesto In Fifteen Suggestions--which is exactly what the title suggests—when a friend asked her how to raise her little daughter as a feminist.

She has distilled years of feminist wisdom into 61 pages, the essence of which that a girl should not be discouraged from doing anything ““because she’s a girl.”  Gender equality is always bandied about as a important goal for society, but not achievable if women still have to be “allowed” their freedom by men.

Through a letter to her friend, Adichie addresses all women, and her voice should be heard. She admits that in spite of her best efforts, the child might still turn out different from what her mother hopes, “because sometimes life just does its thing. What matters is that you try.”

Maybe what is needed is a similar guidebook on raising boys to be gender sensitive too.

Dear Ijeawele

By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 66