Quotessence
Home / Books / We Should All Be Feminists

We Should All Be Feminists

Book by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie · 7 quotes · Feminism, Ambition, Aspire

Filter quotes by topic

AllFeminismAmbitionAspireFeminismoFeministFlawlessGenderMutual SupportProblemCenturyCultureGender EqualityHuman RightsHumansMenRatioShouldTeachToo MuchWomen

We Should All Be Feminists Quotes

“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. Otherwise, you would threaten the man. Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. Now marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don’t teach boys the same? We raise girls to see each other as competitors not for jobs or accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing, but for the attention of men. We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are.”

FeminismAmbition
Book:We Should All Be Feminists
Create image

“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. “I wish I had not worn that ugly suit that day. Had I then the confidence I have now to be myself, my students would have benefited even more from my teaching. Because I would have been more comfortable and more fully and truly myself.”

FeminismGender EqualityWomen In The Workplace
Book:We Should All Be Feminists
Create image

“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. It would be a way of pretending that it was not women who have, for centuries, been excluded. It would be a way of denying that the problem of gender targets women.”

PeopleWayHumansUseProblemWould BeCoursesAsksWomenRightsFeminismCenturyParticularExpressionHuman RightsFeministDenyGenderBelieverTargetWhy NotPretendingVagueMen WomenExcluded
Book:We Should All Be Feminists
Create image