Outward Appearance Does Not Determine their Character

 
    Adichie's text instructs not only her original intended audience, Ijeawele, on ways to raise a feminist daughter, but also all who choose to read her piece. Multiple times throughout the text, Adichie addresses the ways in which society views women as subordinate to their male counterparts - an example being the way in which marriage is seen as a goal women must achieve, but the same is not true for men. In light of this, Adichie goes on about the myriad of ways society heavily judges women on their outward appearance as a way to discern what they believe her whole person to be. Simply put, from a young age women are taught that the way she presents herself greatly affects the way she is seen in the eyes of society. The quote that stood out to me the most, in regard to the aforementioned argument, reads as follows, "Never, ever link Chizalum's appearance with morality. Never tell her that a short skirt is 'immoral'" (Adichie, 44).

    Society oftentimes links a woman's morality to her outward appearance - often using her seemingly 'promiscuous' clothing as an excuse for treating her a certain way. With this being said, as I read this text I found myself thinking about the number of pop culture songs that tough on this topic. One of which being Beyoncé's "If I Were a Boy," which was released in 2008. The major theme of the song is the way in which the singer would live a much different life if she were a man - her descriptions allowing the audience to imagine a lackadaisical way of life that they may never, themselves, experience. Additionally, in light of the aforementioned Adichie quote, the song even goes as far as to explain the way in which the singer would dress if she were a man - simply by stating, "I'd roll out of bed in the morning and throw on what I wanted then go". Thus, further solidifying the way a man's clothing seldom affects society's view of him. In short, I found the link between Adichie's text and a number of pop culture songs to be rather interesting because the two work to solidify the message of the other. To close, Adichie later goes on to state, "Women must be 'covered up' to protect men," (54) but I think forums such as these work to not only bring attention to this longstanding societal standard, but also work towards eventually moving past it. 

Beyoncé. "If I Were a Boy," 2008. 

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