We Should All Be Feminists

Adichie’s tone in this essay is often humorous but is also blunt and direct. How do you think her tone relates to her subject matter? How does it make the essay effective?

The essay often refers to Adichie’s Nigerian culture. How would you describe her attitude toward that culture and toward culture in general? What about her culture does she appreciate, and what about it does she find frustrating?

Adichie begins and ends her essay with an evocation of her childhood friend Okoloma, the first person to call her a feminist. Why do you think she structures her essay in this way? How does her characterization of Okoloma—a friend she loved, who later died in a plane crash—add to the essay’s effectiveness?

Adichie discusses her fashion sense in this essay and her decision to dress to please herself. How does this illustrate her argument against sexism and traditional gender roles?

What do you think Adichie means by the title “We Should All Be Feminists”? (It can have more than one meaning.) How does Adichie make the case that feminism should be as much a cause for men as for women?

Adichie discusses her experience of sexism in her Nigerian culture, while also discussing sexism in the world at large. What are some commonalities between her own experience and those of her American friends?

Adichie begins the essay by discussing the negative connotations attached to the word “feminist.” What are some of these connotations, where do they come from, and how does Adichie refute them?

The essay states that gender is a difficult subject to discuss, and that people often employ certain arguments to avoid discussing it. What are some of these arguments, and how does Adichie discount these arguments?