The Future Can Be Changed Now

         Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie makes compelling arguments throughout Dear Ijeawele for how to raise a daughter to become a feminist. However, the most compelling one she makes, and the one that exists beneath all the others is this: the changes people make now can serve to create a better future. Through her allusions to Chizalum’s adolescence and adulthood, Adichie tells her readers that the decisions people make in the present can positively or negatively impact their futures, and the futures of their children. 

            In her twelfth suggestion, Adichie urgers her friend to teach her daughter about sex and start early. This simple act, being open and honest with one’s daughter about the nature and realities of sex, can have a lasting impact. Adichie writes, “Tell her that her body belongs to her and her alone, that she should never feel the need to say ye to something she does not want, or something she feels pressured to do” (52). For Adichie, talking about sex goes beyond the basics of how it works. It establishes a sense of autonomy, creates a space where Chizalum can feel comfortable talking about such things, and it allows her to know that she has control over her body in any situation. This simple act, something that her mother can start doing now, or close to now, can impact how Chizalum acts within the future. Similarly, in the fifteenth suggestion, Adichie writes, “Teach her about difference. Make difference ordinary. Make difference normal. Teach her not to attach value to difference” (61). Again, this is a simple suggestion, that Chizalum’s mother can implement in her present even though Chizalum is only a baby. In doing this, Chizalum will grow up believing that nobody is any less than anyone else simply because they are different. The ultimate goal in teaching her this is so “she will be full of opinions, and that her opinions will come from an informed, humane, and broad-minded place” (63). These implementable suggestions will have a lasting impact on Chizalum’s life, on her future.

            Throughout this piece, Adichie tells us, through her suggestions on how to raise a daughter to be a feminist, that the future is in our hands. Not only is it in our hands regarding the ways in which we raise our children, who are the literal embodiment of the future, it is also in our hands because we control our own actions. Every suggestion of Adichie’s can be implemented in the now to propel our society toward a bright feminist future, and she challenges each reader to see how her suggestions may be implemented into their own lives. 

 

 

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