We Should All Be Feminists

Abstract

This review examines Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s essay, whose central argument is that feminism is not a struggle exclusive to women, but rather a movement aimed at achieving equality for all people—in essence, a form of humanism. Drawing on her personal experience of growing up in Nigeria, the author examines how gender roles are instilled from childhood and ultimately reproduced within social institutions, determining who occupies which spaces and who has access to which rights. The text also identifies a paradox present even within feminism itself: the tendency to single out those who, from certain perspectives, do not challenge the patriarchal order strongly enough. In response, Adichie proposes a conciliatory perspective, according to which every woman should be free to choose, based on her own context and individuality, the paths to emancipation best suited to her own circumstances, without submitting to unjustified external dictates. The review highlights the essay’s principal strength as its clarity in dismantling deeply rooted prejudices embedded in everyday life, as well as its capacity to encourage a social and legal analysis that promotes women’s dignity from an empirical perspective.