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I got what every woman wants for her birthday. Books on feminism and women studies.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Although this began as a letter to a friend seeking advice for raising her daughter to be a feminist, the advice within is relevant to everyone who believes in the equality of men and women. It is a concise handbook for being a good human, not just a good parent. She writes with compassion and wit.

"Teach her about privilege and inequality and the importance of giving dignity to everyone who does not mean her harm [...]" (p.41)

"Teach [her] to read. [...] Books will help her understand and question the world, help her question herself, and help her in whatever she wants to become..." (p. 25)

"Teach her to question language. Language is the repository of our prejudices, our beliefs, our assumptions. But to teach her that, you will have to question your own language." (p. 26)

I definitely think these are two of the best things any human can do!

"Beware the danger of what I call Feminism Lite. It is the idea of conditional female equality. Please reject this entirely. It is a hollow, appeasing, and bankrupt idea. Being a feminist is like being pregnant. You either are or you are not. You either believe in the full equality of men and women or you do not." (p. 20)

The last 3 sentences! ?

“The knowledge of cooking does not come pre-installed in a vagina.”

In my household, it‘s sweeping. Hubby cannot seem to use a broom inside the house. He‘ll sweep the garage or patio, he‘ll swiffer or vacuum, but he has swept the kitchen fewer than ten times in the 16 years we‘ve been married. 🙄😡

Another quick, bracing read. I need to revisit Adichie‘s other feminist pamphlet. I‘m finding these short nonfiction works suit my attention span this weekend, as fireworks boom and nobody gets much sleep.

A quickie that i almost forgot to post! Great little refresher on what it means to be a feminist, and how seemingly little actions and sayings can have a huge impact on people still developing their sense of the world. Here‘s to making our community better in 2022 and on ♥️

Book 39

I listened to this letter written as a response to the question of how to raise a feminist. Some of the suggestions are conclusions I've also drawn in my experience. Nothing earth shattering. I didn't love that that the advice was originally written by a non-parent, though I like Adichie and admire her fiction writing and feminist resume. ⭐⭐⭐

Last book of 2020, just posting a little late.
This is brilliant. I don't typically like essays or suggestions but this should be a must read. I'll be giving it to my niece in a few years (not at 4yrs old though) 😸
#Feminism #JennyIs30 @jenniferw88

#AugustAuthors Day 19: I often argue with #ChimamandaNgoziAdichie in my head whenever I read her books. In this post, I share my reservations about Adichie‘s “opinionated” stance which strikes me as low-key (ok, pretty high-key, actually) judgmental. More here: https://wp.me/pDlzr-kmd

What‘s a really really good book to read?

And on to the next one.

Chimamanda is a goddess

This really bothers me

1. Dune, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, and Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
2. Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3. I only preorder if I usually love the author‘s books, but I haven‘t heard that any of my favorite authors are publishing anything this year, so I haven‘t preordered anything.
#weekendreads

The first book on feminism which pulled me because of two reasons:
1. It was not just a women‘s read. It talked of equality, a real and practical one, not the biased one, which says we deserve because we are women.
2. It‘s letter form brought simplicity to it, rather than having bulky definitions and stories on pseudo feminism.

#7days7books (Day 3)

@hes7 if you haven‘t been tagged yet and want to play!

Ngozi Adichie writes with eloquent simplicity in this beautiful letter to a friend‘s daughter. She offers lessons about what it truly means to be strong woman who carries herself with confidence and a clear sense of self. This is something that I will read to my nieces when they get a bit older and gift to them so they may someday read it to the special children in their lives. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I have two young sons, and I'm injecting feminism at every turn, as much as I know how. This is actually written to a daughter of Adichie's friend, but mothers of sons, or any living soul for that matter, can absorb these 15 principles of feminism. Everyone should read/listen to this book. The #audiobook is only an hour long (30 min on 2x speed!). I listened to it from the #libby app via my #library. 🙌🏻

A short, eloquent, amusing, and powerful essay on raising children as feminists. It gave me a lot to think about - I'm definitely guilty of some of the behaviours that this little manifesto points out.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5)
Not sure if this counts for my #VirtualMtTBRChallenge2020, but it has been on my #Overdrive wishlist for a while. I read it while waiting for a hold to come in. It is straightforward and practical advice on raising a feminist. Highly recommended quick read for #WomensHistoryMonth.

#ReallyRandomFebruary Day 11: I challenged Adichie‘s #sentiment here about being NOT “non-judgmental.” My idea of being non-judgmental is withholding judgments about people who may be different from one‘s self; it suggests that I will refrain from judging people‘s beliefs or practices using my experiences, my culture, my reality as parameter. My reservations about her advice shared in greater depth here: https://wp.me/pDlzr-kmd

This translates across all demographics
👏🏾

I loved this so much! I don‘t know what else to say about it, but I highly recommend it.

The final book on my highest rated TBR for 2019. I‘m ready to be blown away.

This really short epistolary work should be required reading. Adiche mentions 15 ways to her friend who wants her advice on raising her daughter as a feminist. The advice is not only applicable for raising children but also for everyone who wants to be a feminist or know how to be an ally. #NFNov #audiobook

#TIL about Feminism Lite: idea of conditional female equality. You either are a feminist/not. In Feminism Lite, men are naturally superior but should be expected to “treat women well.” There must be more than male benevolence as the basis for a women‘s well-being. Feminism Lite uses the language of “allowing.” FL enables us judging powerful women more harshly than powerful men. More: https://ideas.ted.com/beware-of-feminism-lite/
#NFNov

“Teach her that the idea of 'gender roles' is absolute nonsense. Do not ever tell her that she should or should not do something because she is a girl.
'Because you are a girl' is never reason for anything.
Ever.” #NFNov

“Your feminist premise should be: I matter. I matter equally. Not “if only.” Not “as long as.” I matter equally. Full stop.” NFNov

“Teach her that if you criticize X in women but do not criticize X in men, then you do not have a problem with X, you have a problem with women.” #NFNov

After a friend asked how to raise her daughter as a feminist, the author wrote her a letter with fifteen suggestions, which became the basis of this short book.

Although I don‘t have children, I found her suggestions to be thoughtful and affirming. #NFNov

I meant to post this earlier this week but things got away from me during work. Wednesday I got to see Chimamanda speak about her writing and her work as a feminist. I loved every minute of it. I was super lucky also to get my copy of the tagged book signed by her. So far I‘ve only read her nonfiction essays which I loved and hope to get into her fiction soon.

#authorsigning #author #signing #umn #mpls #twincities

This little book is written as a letter from Adichie to her friend, when asked how to raise a feminist daughter in today‘s world. The author‘s fifteen suggestions are direct, wise and optimistic, talking about motherhood, womanhood and feminism..in relation to life in Nigeria and the rest of the world. Her suggestions are a good reminder for everyone. Just like We Should All Be Feminists, this inspires as well.
#AuthorAMonth

Short, but powerful. Adichie advises her friend on how to raise her daughter— but all parents should read this, not just mothers of daughters.

Adichie is an author I‘ve been meaning to read, and am glad to finally get around to her for #authoramonth. @Soubhiville this is really essay-length rather than a book, so it‘s up to you to decide whether this counts. Purple Hibiscus coming up soon!

I read this book in one sitting.
I really enjoyed this book everything she says is how I have been feeling for ages all the questions, all the anger, all the unfairness and inequality it was nice to read someone else feels the same way.
My favourite part was reading about marriage and the changing of your last name when I had this problem I didn't want to give up my name and it caused so much trouble with his family. #librarybook #feminist ♀️🤟📚

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 This took me an hour or so to read, and it was a pleasure. Can‘t wait to read more of Chimamanda‘s work. Looks like she‘s got several other award-winning pieces.

My new go-to gift for friends, family, soon-to-be-parents, budding feminists, and anyone who can use straightforward tips on how to promote equality in their daily life.

This was a short book of advice for a mother for raising her daughter to be a feminist. As a mom of two daughters, I enjoyed it. Nothing here is groundbreaking, but the author makes some good points. The choice of narrator for this audiobook didn‘t quite work for me though.

A quick read with plenty of smart, solid points.

Book 5 of #24b4Monday finished. (#8inTwo, too.)
Current time: 16h12m

Short but impactful and important.

The fifteenth recommendation is the best one. Yes! So much yes!

I read this on March 5 & gave it 4 ⭐️. I found it a better book than We Should All Be Feminists. And although it should come as no surprise, it was kind of shocking how easy it is for a new parent to fall into the rigid gender stereotypes when a child is first born, even if the intent is not there.

Also, I‘ve just counted and I‘ve read more books in two months of this year than I did the entire of last year! 17 and counting! I‘m really happy to have started focusing on my reading more and I love how Litsy helps me to track my progress and find new books to read.

I did the same thing as I did with ‘We Should All Be Feminists‘ - read it in 20ish minutes flat and loved it!

This short book is based on a letter Adichie wrote to a friend on how to raise a feminist. Some of her advice is very personal, mentioning mutual friends & family by name, and some of it is culturally specific, which gave interesting insight into being a woman in Igbo culture. And some of it is just plain universal truth. At only 63 pages, there‘s really no reason not to read this! #ReadBlackAuthors #Blitsy #BlackHistoryMonth

My #Januarywrapup! It was a little bit of a slow reading month for me, but I read some great books!

This was a great book that I think would be a great book for all new parents or anyone really. I wish my parents had this was I was little. Her writing style and her words remind me of Maya Angelou. A must read!