“I want girls to reject likeability” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speaks on How to Raise a Feminist at the Women in the World Summit | Watch on BN TV

In this video by Women in the World, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards and celebrated Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie share their thoughts on the new wave of feminism – even in the Trump era, at the Women in the World Summit in New York City.

On Rejecting Likeability

“There’s a terrible dangerous cultural mindset that says to women, you need to be liked,” says Adichie. “It’s nice to be liked, men want to be liked, but it’s the idea that women need it,” says Adichie. “Women who are sexually assaulted, they’re afraid of coming out about it because they’re afraid of not being liked. I want girls to reject likeability.”

Richards said in the words of her late mother, Texas Governor Ann Richards: “If you’re not pissing anybody off, you’re doing something wrong.”

Involve men and boys in the fight for feminism

Richards, who has three children, says her son Daniel “is every bit as feminist as his [two] sisters.”

“He was the Vice President of the Reproductive Rights group at his college. I see so many fathers and grandfathers marching for women’s rights, things are changing in the way men think about feminism, I think.”

Reject ‘Feminism Lite’

‘Feminism Lite’ is “the idea of conditional female equality”, says Adichie.  “It’s that you’re not equal to a man, a woman’s wellbeing depends on the benevolence of a man. “That’s more dangerous than not being a feminist, I think.”

Change the way we think about masculinity

“We need to deconstruct the way we think about masculinity and femininity,” adds Adichie. “Feminism is for men, too. Masculinity is also a cage that limits men — what if we raised them to think of masculinity as very different? What if we raised them to be ashamed of macho behaviour?”

Teach your kids to stand up and fight

“Women are ‘woke’ in this country and it’s awesome to see,” said Richards. “Women didn’t just march. Women have a sense of self-worth and women are more engaged like I have never seen in my lifetime.”

“Feminism cannot be a passive identity,” adds Adichie, “It has to be something we stand up and fight for.”

Watch the Video