Society Watch

…watching over you!

My books will sell more in Nigeria if I’m not a feminist says Chimamanda Adichie

2 min read

Award-winning Nigerian Writer, Chimamanda Adichie, in a chat with UK Guardian Emma Brockes, at a coffee shop near her home in the Baltimore suburbs, disclosed how the feminist movement has affected her book sales.
Chimamanda who was in Lagos last year,  talked about her experience. According to her, she was approached by a young man who said

“I used to love you. “I’ve read all your books. But since you started this whole feminism thing, and since you started to talk about this gay thing, I’m just not sure about you any more. How do you intend to keep the love of people like me?”

I’m already irritated. This idea of feminism as a party to which only a select few people
get to come: this is why so many women, particularly women of colour, feel alienated from mainstream western academic feminism. Because, don’t we want it to be mainstream? For me, feminism is a movement for which the end goal is to make itself no longer needed. I think academic feminism is interesting in that it can give a language to things, but I’m not terribly interested in debating terms. I want people’s marriages to change for the better. I want women to walk into job interviews and be treated the same way as somebody who has a penis.”
The Americanah writer also believes that feminism is not a cynical marketing ploy? “No. Sorry. Feminism is not that hot. I can tell you I would sell more books in Nigeria if I stopped and said I’m no longer a feminist. I would have a stronger following, I would make more money. So when people say, ‘Oh, feminism’s a marketing ploy’, it makes me laugh” she said.
Chiamanda who believes, feminism shouldn’t be a party for just a selected few said;