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Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Chimamanda Adichie Responds To Backlash Of Her Controversial Interview With Hillary Clinton

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie‘s interview with Hillary Clinton at the PEN World Voices Festival lecture on Sunday night is still viral and casing waves on the Internet...




In the interview, Chimamanda asked the former U.S presidential candidate why she has “Wife” leading her bio. A lot of people has slammed her, questioning what she stands for.

Chimamanda has taken to her facebook page to explain further the rationale behind her question. 
She wrote:



Dear Unnamed Person Who I Am Told Is On Social Media Saying I am Her Family and Telling Me to Shut Up:


Cynicism is ugly. It doesn’t flatter anyone. Yours doesn’t suit you at all.


I remember you vaguely; I think you were in my class in primary school. And now you claim to be my ‘family’ and you are asking me to shut up.


Did you watch the video of the conversation? Did you read a full transcript?


I am tired of Nigerians who read a headline and, without bothering to get details and context, jump on the outrage bandwagon and form lazy, shallow opinions.


I am tired of Nigerians cynically thinking of anybody in public life as a ‘brand.’ No, I am not a brand. I am a person who feels strongly about certain issues. I choose to talk honestly about them. I made the choice to talk about feminism knowing very well the kind of hostility it brings – but I think it’s important and I will continue to speak my truth and hope to bring about some change, no matter how small. Adirom agba egwu ka m data ego.


No, of course you don’t actually deserve a response, but I have some free time today. So I want to make you feel a little important because it sounds like you need it.


And I want to reflect on an absolutely lovely hour spent on stage with Hillary Clinton.


I was happy when I was told that Hillary Clinton had specifically requested to be in conversation with me at the PEN World Voices festival. I am an unapologetic fan of Ms. Clinton’s. I have been for many years.


I felt quite emotional when I met her. Having read and followed her for years, it was moving to see her: the warm, human, observant, present, thoughtful person (and looking wonderful, with her hair and makeup on point!).


She said she had read my books and I restrained myself from doing cartwheels.


“Is there anything you don’t want to talk about?” I asked backstage.


“Ask me anything,” she said.


Towards the end of our conversation, I told her how, having read her writing about her own life, I think she has a great love story with Bill Clinton. A wonderful friendship. I said I feel irritated and protective of her when people dissect her personal life, but I also confessed to having an interest myself, particularly about her public Twitter profile. (I first noticed it when I was researching a piece about her during the presidential campaign). I was upset that the first word used to describe her was ‘wife.’ Was it a choice she had made or was it something done for her campaign and, if it was a choice she had made, did she think my reaction to it was fair?


Her response was very thoughtful.


I was too excited, emotional, slightly nervous, to be on stage with this remarkable woman. Had I kept in mind how easily outrage-mongers would jump on a headline, I would have phrased my question better. I would not have made it about my being upset, because it can come across as navel-gazing.


But the truth is that we were supposed to be having a ‘conversation,’ the context of our conversation was personal and warm, I had made the decision to speak from the heart, and it would be dishonest to pretend that I had not reacted personally to so many issues around Ms. Clinton, whose life has become a kind of crucible of all the questions that affect women.


We all react personally to public figures. And I WAS upset that the Twitter bio of a woman who is the most accomplished person to run for President of the United States, would begin with ‘wife.’ And considering her personal history, it just didn’t seem to fit.


I felt that ‘wife’ was used as an attempt to placate all the men and women who will not vote for a woman unless they are able to see her FIRST in domestic terms.


Yes, it’s just Twitter. But it matters. It’s a public platform. It’s where people go to hear directly from her.


And there is context to consider.


In LIVING HISTORY, Ms.Clinton writes that the two most difficult decisions she has made in her life were staying married to Bill Clinton and running for the senate seat in New York.


Women, especially women in public life, face a lot of societal pressure about how to be, how to live, much more than men do. Women in public life are considered ‘cold’ and ‘un-relatable’ unless they define themselves in domestic terms. Women’s accomplishments are often considered incomplete unless they have also ticked the ‘marriage’ box. These things are not true of men, even though marriage can be a wonderful thing for both men and women.


Feminism is indeed about choice. But it is intellectually lazy to suggest that, since everything is about ‘choice,’ none of these choices can be interrogated. Choices are never made in a vacuum. And sometimes, for women, choices are not always real choices.


After she got married, Ms. Clinton kept her name, but she was so viciously criticized for this that she then took on her husband’s name. Was this a ‘choice?’ Would she have done so if she wasn’t being attacked and if she didn’t want to feel responsible for her husband’s potential losing of votes?


During the last presidential campaign, she was expected to account for the policies of her husband’s administration. She was labeled an enabler of sexual harassment. She was accused of cynically staying married because she wanted to benefit politically.


Much of Ms. Clinton’s public image is a caricature of a person who is untrustworthy, calculated, cold, dishonest. That caricature has its roots in her early public life when she was the First Lady of Arkansas.


Her crime was that she did not conform to the traditional role of First Lady. She had kept her name. She clearly considered herself to be her husband’s equal partner. She did not intend merely to be a Wife. She had her own dreams, her own ambition. She dared to say that she wasn’t planning on ‘staying home and baking cookies,’ which was not about denigrating stay-at-home mothers but simply about saying that that was not what she wanted to do.


A small comment about a small thing, but it was significant and revolutionary because she was consciously resisting the status quo.


But she was attacked for that. Horrendously. And those attacks were repeated so often that they stuck and they contributed to her being reduced to a caricature.


It was therefore upsetting to see her first descriptor as ‘wife.’ The question isn’t about including ‘wife’ in her Twitter bio. The question is about giving ‘wife’ a certain primacy as the first word that describes her, and it speaks to larger questions about the societal expectations placed on women.


Ms. Clinton wrote in her most recent book WHAT HAPPENED, that she ran for president because she thinks she would have been a ‘damned good president.’


She certainly would have been. And so I suggested, half-joking, that ‘Would have been a damned good president’ is a perfect Twitter bio start. And then mother and wife and grandma and Senator and hair icon etc could follow!


I completely stand by my question and by my conviction that it is a subject that matters.


I had a truly enlightening evening on that stage with Ms. Clinton, and was once again awed by her grit, her humanity, her sparkling intelligence.


After the conversation, Ms. Clinton told me, “It was like talking to a friend.” She is now my Aunty For Life.


Oh, as for YOU, Unnamed Person, saying that I am ‘family’ to you, mbakwa biko. The people I consider family don’t ‘do petty.’


Saying “shut up” to a woman who airs an opinion is so unoriginal. Try and be a bit more inventive.


Try reasoning. Try intelligent debate. Try understanding things in context before you reveal your ignorant misogyny to the world. Try reading more than a headline. Try reading a whole book. Or two. And please keep talking. Keep speaking. Don’t ever shut up.


~CNA

88 comments:

  1. This babe can write epistles like Reuben Abati...ooops! Hope I wasnt being feminist?

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    1. Na wah for this “chimanda something" ooh, she just dey para anyhow on top lost cause; lol. See dear, if e pain you too much ehn, construct prick for yourself or do with yourself, haba!
      Small time now this chick go talk say why should God be a man?!

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    2. Ode and where is it written that God is a man? omugodiran.

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    3. Anon I saw your comment and I tried so hard to ignore it but no........
      You are a capital fool indeed, a degenerate, a disgrace and shame to your species! May our daughters never grow up with such daft mentality as that of yours and your mentor.
      They call earth “mother earth" but have you ever heard a man question why it's not father earth? Because we no get time for trivialites and frivolities.
      Now you hid under the mask of anonimity to show your ignoraminity!
      May your children have sense in jesJe name, Amen.

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    4. lol, I am sure you are one of those who criticised Ceecee. What did i say? Why are you foaming in the mouth and going into fits? Did i hit a nerve? Uncouth dirty scavenger roaming on blogs to spill bile. Oh you know how to abuse people but you want to go into shock over small insult, omo irankiran adete!! Jobless nicompoo.

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    5. Annon you really hit a nerve hahahaha

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  2. I like Chimamanda Adichie. I've read almost all of her books, I find her to be entertaining, intelligent and outspoken. I also listened to some of her talks and find her to be very eloquent, no phoney accent. She's a confident woman. BUT, she's taking this feminism thing too far.

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    1. That write up over there isnt about her and it's not all feminism.
      Questioning the status quo doesn't make you a rebel or feminist, shes just asking relevant questions that brought about the public profile of Ms Clinton and the public perception on how a woman ought to be presented so as to acceptable by our ever misogynistic world.


      LEP😛

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    2. Hillary owned her sha... that dry sarcasm at the beginning after she asked that silly question... at least, even she agrees she should’ve couched the question better.. upset kwa

      Feminism is allowing women be who they want, whatever that might be

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    3. Nigerians are not intelligent. What is wrong with tge question. Silly lazy people...

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    4. Chi dumbest !!! Who takes this numbskull serious anyway ya’ll from poor backgrounds to be fooled by this chicken

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  3. Oh my gosh!!🙌🙌🙌
    Interesting response(If I should say so myself)

    I always say this.. Your manner of delivery and assimilation will aways make what you want to pass across very catchy and interesting to read... That is for people who read to understand ooh, not everybody.

    I might not agree with everything CNA believes in... but oh my! Is she smart? Yep.
    Anyone that wants to counter her should either bring points, read between the lines of her FULL interview with Hillary or don’t bother.

    Quote of the day: You,Yes you.are empty when your reaction to posts,comments you don’t understand is violence. Pick a book,or two😁
    Don’t be a lazy Nigerian.

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    1. Exactly, see classy response. When you disagree with someone's opinion,come up with a superior argument and dish out your points like an educated person.

      Thank God she didn't dignify that Freeze with a response, always trying to involve himself in issues that do not concern him thinking he is one prolific writer.

      Meanwhile, I absolutely understand her point. Women should stop feeling being married is an accomplishment thereby putting pressure on the single ones.Even at work, they treat the single ladies with little or no respect because they are single.

      Women and wahala, ask for their names and you will hear Mrs Sola Johnson or Mrs Johnson instead of Sola Johnson they must add the "Mrs" title. Somebody will soon jump on my comment and say I am saying this because I am single.

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    2. Anon 10.36 I think this Mrs of a thing is taken too far in Nigeria. Where I work nobody cares whether you're married or not, as long as you do your job to the best of your abilities....

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    3. @Anonymous 10:36,

      It is actually the right way to address a married woman as 'Mrs', followed by the husband's name, except she chooses to go by her maiden name, then 'Ms' will become appropriate. It's their choice, I'll suggest you allow them exercise it freely.

      By the way, this isn't even an issue: what a person chooses to be addressed as. The issues that should be tackled are left alone to pursue trivial ends.

      #Love#Peace

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    4. I'm yet to see a Dr Mr XYZ. By the way, why does the title of women show marital status. Every man whether single or married, is 'Mr'. For women? A different story.

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    5. I'm yet to see a Dr Mr XYZ. By the way, why does the title of women show marital status. Every man whether single or married, is 'Mr'. For women? A different story.

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    6. @Anon, why you wouldn't see a 'Dr Mr' is just like you said and also because men do not change their surnames after marriage.

      These things will continue to be a mundane pursuit no matter how elegantly it is presented. Mind liberation and spiritual fulfilment should be the goal.

      #Love#Peace

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    7. @ Monsieur, nobody addreseses anyone as Mrs Jackie or Mr Paul abroad.I work with people in their 20s,30s,40s, 50s even 60s. A lot of my colleagues are married and we all call each other by our first names, it makes us flow and relate better. It is only in Nigeria or maybe Africa you will be in a training or workshop and you guys will be asked to introduce one another and you will be hearing Mrs Ada John, they must add the Mrs like it is one trophy. What is the Mrs doing there?

      Same way my mil started calling me Mama sososo after I gave birth.I politely told her mama sebi you stil call your daughters by their first names and they have all given birth so please continue calling me my first name since you say I am your daughter.

      I am married and I don't add Mrs to my name. It is just not necessary.

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    8. @Anonymous, I am very sure of what I say when I implied it is standard practice for a married woman to be addressed as 'Mrs'. Even in Donald trump's 'how to get rich', he explained how he began to be called Mr Trump, which he wasn't used to before his foray into politics. It happened because the rules of politics adopt very strict formal addressing.

      Also, that you have a different experience doesn't automatically invalidate an established standard that existed even before I was born. Your experience does not in any way form an adequate sample from which inference can be made. By the way, the prevalent business practices and customs of where you work abroad is different from other States in that same country and also differs from those of other countries. So, you cannot expect everyone to employ the same precepts like you do. That is why there is a necessity for learning a people's culture when you seek to establish a business relationship with them.

      Everyone has a right to choose how to be addressed just like you do. So because you do it differently doesn't make their decisions inferior to yours.

      Finally, like I've said, this is a non-issue.

      #Love#Peace

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    10. No my dear, you are wrong, you don't have the right to choose how to be addressed where your salary is paid.
      No you do not have that right and it is not standard practice.Nobody has that luxury of time in sane clames to entertain such frivolities.Cheers

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    11. why is chimamanda married herself?she should have stayed single for this her feminism course
      Charity they say begins at home, most of this people are hypocrites they don't practice what they preach. Don't be fooled .

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  4. CHIMAMA IS A DAMM GOOD STORY TELLER

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  5. Chimamanda doesn't get it. To you the word wife is derogatory and that is as bad as a woman calling herself a woman. Something is seriously amiss with you psychologically. You need help.

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    1. No, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO IS NOT GETTING IT. HER PROBLEM IS NOT THE WORD WIFE HERE....

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    2. You are the one not getting what she said anon 10:25. Imagine reading what she wrote and you still don't get it.

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  6. You have a problem with the word wife, maybe you should find an alternative like husband-master

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    1. Based on my understanding of this piece, I don't think she has a problem with the word wife. The message is women should stop acting as though marriage validates them.

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  7. Laat month, o thought about this same thing, why is that women are been introduced as Mrs xyz and not about her qualification because men are not introduced that way. For example olu Jacob is a veteran actor blah blah blah , but if it comes to joke Silva they will start by saying she is the wife of olu Jacob before they say that she is a veteran actor. Women has their own identity

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    1. Okay. Is she not the wife of Olu Jacobs?
      Its not an issue .

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    2. Why do they call president's wife the first lady?
      Why can't they go straight by saying "Address by Aishat buhari"
      Its just logical at times to address women with reference to their marital status or political status.
      And again, its not in all cases
      I have never seen them addressing Kemi Adeosun as Kemi Adeosun the wife of Mr Adeosun

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  8. I love this lady and nothing wrong with her question to Hillary. Women always feel like they can’t own their achievements if they are not perceived to be in happy relationships or marriage.

    Girl, ride on in your search for answers to questions that other people wouldn’t dare to ask and Hillary understood where Chimamanda was coming from. Like she said read a damn whole book and not just the cover or excerpts.

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    1. I think you should go to linda ikeji's blog and read more intelligent contributions to this matter. Its not every time you join the bandwagon

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  9. Most people these days have developed a sense of morality that even our dear lord can’t leave up to. They judge, criticise and rush to social media avenues to broadcast their poorly processed dogma.
    Good response from Adichie! She didn’t need to reply but sometimes these people need to be put nicely to the shallow place where they belong.

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  10. Lol @ 'don't ever shut up'. I Iove blessing aluben response to her yesterday. It Was more like a reasoning and intelligent debate as Amanda mentioned in this her write up.

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    1. Thank you. Blessing's response was wonderful and very insightful

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  11. CNA is smart, articulate and very well read. An excellent author. But she is not wise. She reeks of intellectual condescension and her reply was quite savage in parts. She should tread very very lightly and carefully. She strikes me as someone who has never really struggled and it is obvious that her accomplishments and the praise she gets has gone to her head. Pride goes before a fall.

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    1. Story! I read this exact comment yesterday. You’ve brought it here again? Her response was perfect! Yes she was feisty in places but who wouldn’t be? She described yiubpeiple for exactly what you are. No one saw you ranting up and down the net when that bleaching cream seller and that crass, unrefined, backward, chauvinist, wife battering, another man’s wife impregnating buffoon was attacking her for simply asking a validly curious question that even Hillary herself completely understood and didn’t take wrongly. Please let us hear word joh and stop disturbing our peace

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    2. Anon 10:48 I'm wondering if it's the same comment we read. Oh Please! ✋

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    3. And if she's (in any way) condescending, she's EARNED it! E easy??!

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    4. You are just a faceless annon yet you criticize her...just listen to yourself

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    5. Lol! @ anon 23:00. You be pot, first anon na kettle, me self na frying pan. Lmao!!

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  12. Say what you may about Chimamanda, you can't the fact that she's intelligent, a prolific writer , and most importantly thinks deeply. If half of the women in Nigeria where to use their brain more often Nigeria will be a better place. We should also bear in mind that most women in Nigeria don't have the privilege of having a choice in things, be it marriage, education, religion, lifestyle, dressing. Even you that think you have one , think deeply and realise that you don't .

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  13. Idiots following idiots,isn’t she married with kids, tell your moms to put ropes on your dads neck and pull him like a goat, dencia gave it to the fool, bad upbringing from land of potopoto,small thing gets in their head, a lot of intelligent women still have family values, leading dumb sdk hoes astray, awon aunty gwegs olobo cobweb

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    1. Ode, please remind me who Dencia is again? You can't even compare her with Dencia, one get head and the other one no get head.As if Dencia that behaves like a mad woman is one to talk about values or marriage.

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    2. Anon 11:10, even your utterance and the king of language you’re using to express yourself shows your class. With a gutter-mouth like that, no wonder dencia is your mentor/role model

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    3. @ Anonymous 11.10 If only you would take a deep breath, then read through her post again just to understand her or better still bring up a superior defense without been so rude...

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  14. Intelligent savage response.

    She's right about Nigerians. Most don't read the full story they just jump and react base on headlines only.

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  15. Chimamanda is world class no doubt but she needs to take a chill pill. Blessing made very valid points yesterday!

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  16. She sees being described as a wife as derogatory. I don't agree with her. She may be intelligent but wisdom is far. Every married woman is a wife and if you find it derogatory to be addressed as a wife please stay single.
    Some of you will ruin your homes and remain single for life because of follow follow and implementing fake advice and opinions.

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    1. That's the problem. Someone who appreciates relationships over achievements is not less effective in your field of accomplishments. Its a matter of choice. Adichie is in a personal fight against the values with which she was brought up...the Nigerian values.

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    2. Hi Unique, you might want to read her post again so you can better understand the contest of her question to Madam Clinton. I don't think she said or implied been called 'wife' is derogatory.

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  17. She's just a confused person. Confusing herself and the blind followers.

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  18. So Hilary Rotham Clinton a 70yr old woman, former US senator, former secretary of state, two time first lady, former presidential nominee needs chidimanda to tell her how to write her bio. Interesting.......

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    1. God bless you boo best comment ever !!! Chop kiss , I’m a guy always admired you from a distance !!winks

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    2. Can you imagine??

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    3. So after reading everything she wrote up there, you still think thats what her question to Clinton was all about? Abi you didt bother reading and assimilating? You just jumped to conclusion and joined the out rage mongers? # Intellectual laziness

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    4. Jeez see them? Guilty of jumping on headlines, she was just curious about her decision to start the bio with wife, whether it was her choice to or she felt 'mandated' to because of society views, moreover considering ms clinton is a woman that had compromised her stands and views on related matters, like when she decided to keep her maiden name but bowed under societal pressure

      Mehn madam go back and read the FULL COMPlETE response abeg and dont come here saying its all about her to write her bio

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    5. My dear Anons, as a career woman, a mother and a FEMINIST. I can decide to write my bio as I wish.
      I can decide to write a book, and only add wife, and mother there. It is my godaam choice. I can also decide tomorrow to drop my career and face being a mother/wife ONLY. Does that make me any less a woman, an achiever and a feminist ???
      Any woman can be anything they want to be. If my calling in life is to be a WIFE/MOTHER, it is also my choice. If I decide to carry MRS on my head. It is also my CHOICE.
      The key word here is CHOICE. Let Chimanda write her bio how she pleases and let MRS Clinton write her's how she wishes.
      Many women see themselves as wife/mothers first, before career women and I see nothing wrong there. There are ppl that have given 30years to a career,ignored their families in the process and on one lovely Monday morning you receive a Sack letter, that your services are no longer required because they are downsizing. You return back home to a husband who hardly knows you anymore, and kids that see you as a stranger. That is when you will know which is more important. FEMINISM IS A WOMANS RIGHT TO CHOOSE.
      Give women the CHOICE to refer to themselves as they wish.
      Who is chidinma to say this, and I'm quoting her words.
      ''In your Twitter account, the first word that describes you is ‘Wife.’ And then I think it’s ‘Mom,’ and then it’s ‘Grandmother,’
      ''And when I saw that, I have to confess that I felt just a little bit upset. And then I went and I looked at your husband’s Twitter account, and the first word was not ‘husband.’''
      IMAGINE SAYING SHE WAS UPSET ????
      Obama has father, husband, citizen etc on his own. Let Bill Clinton leave out husband/father on his own bio, it is Clintons choice.
      THIS WAS CLINTONS RESPONSE BELOW
      ''Explaining why she has it up on her bio, Clinton talked about the importance of personal relationships, and the fact that women should be able to celebrate both their relationships and their achievements.''

      SO ANONS I READ AND WATCHED THIS INTERVIEW VERY WELL AND MY QUOTES ARE THE KEY POINTS.
      A woman has the RIGHT to celebrate both her personal relationships and her achievements.

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    6. Beds and roses, you should have written this your epistle atop first before making a false statement that Hilary needed her to write her bio. Even with your epistle, you’re still completely missing the point. And according to your last paragraph, you read her clarification and also watched the interview very well? Yet you still arrived at all that balderdash? FYI, she never said Hillary or any woman shouldn’t decide on how to write their bio, she said she was wondering why Hillary in particular put WIFE first considering her history of not caring about that status for years that she didn’t even change her maiden name after she got married until she was pressured by the society when bill started running fir office. THAT wasn’t hillary’s CHOICE but she still did it. Chimaamanda wanted to know if this too was by choice etc etc. she’s also referred to why she said she was upset. Plus Hillary understood exactly where she was coming from and never took offense to it so I’m seriously wondering why you should.

      Lastly, in her response. Hillary explained why she put wife first (because she knows how little that title meant to her). And going by bill’s public fiasco with Monica and a few others, it isn’t too hard to see why Hillary was more focused on her career rather than the title “wife”. You also failed to mention that she said she would readjust that in her bio after looking at things from another angle. YOu still ended you comment as if Hillary had a problem with the question thereby giving that response.

      With all these, if you still don’t get Chimamanda’s point and still think she’s trying to stifle women’s right especially after you claim to have read on this and watched the interview very well? I don’t know who can help you then.

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    7. Sweetie you need to help yourself first before even thinking of helping me. From the looks of things you need a whole lot of help cos I wrote MY OWN OPINION.
      I don't have to agree to your view or chi's own.
      When she's got all the accolodates clinton has maybe I will listen. Till then let her leave women to live and let live.
      I REPEAT she has no right to question Clinton or any woman for that matter and say "she was upset"

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    8. So chi is in Clintons mind to know she is being true to herself.
      As women we don't have the right to believe in a notion in our 30/40s and believe in smthn else in our later years.
      The chi should not even have married at all. She should have stayed true to her own self too since she hates anything man. Nonsense.
      Let her keep deceiving women that being a wife isn't important when she is building her own home.

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    9. Thank you B and R, Hilary felt being a wife was most important to her that’s why she started with it, that doesn’t take her other achievements as a joke but it was just her choice. CNA on the other hand can decide to start hers with feminism, that is her preference, but when you start to question another persons prefrerence then that is a problem.
      In my opinion, I feel she was asking Hilary out of curiosity but if it was done in any other manner, then there’s a problem there.
      Being a Mrs isn’t really a big deal to me, but no one should decieve you that marriage isn’t an achievement, the Bible even says so. I would choose being a mother over any title not even if I have a PhD, “Mother” always does it for me and so no one should question that in a condescending manner.

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    10. Lols!! Lord please help our nation with comprehension! CHAI! It isn’t finished!!

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    11. Push Up, I noticed you chose “mother” too and not “wife”....... Ooops! Did I just infringe on your right too to choose according to peeps around here? Hehehehe!

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  19. You need to read the comments on her FB page. Mehn! Plenty men came for her neck. One said he is changing his daughter's name from Chimamanda to whatever.

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  20. I like her response here, it's quite explanatory. I love her books (have read all? I think, she's a good creative writer) I love her person too. But I don't like her brand of feminism.

    Someone pointed out that President Obama and John Legend's either twitter or Instagram handles starts with husband, and nobody has been 'upset' about it or made a fuss.
    As she said it's a personal choice what anyone decides or chooses to be addressed by. I am glad she was vocal about her observation though, and I heard Hilary has agreed to edit her profile.

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    1. Nice that you like a lot of things about her. The only thing you seem not to like is her “brand of feminism”. But she also made it clear that she’s not a brand, she has her own opinion on issues and chooses to voice them knowing fully well the kind of hostility they might bring. So, liking or disliking her “brand of feminism” would be rather inconsequential in this context. ...... Just Saying

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    2. I am not basing my not liking her 'brand of feminism' on this topic alone, generally her kind of feminism seem extreme lefties to me, most times based on 'frivolities' not really hitting on the nitty gritty of what feminism is all about. As you said, her opinion and she reserves right to voice them no matter whose ox is gored.
      I mustn't like everything about her.
      My opinion.

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    3. Do you have reasoning at all. What is wrong with a damn questions. You Nigerian women need to liberate yourselves. What else when reality stars having sex on live shows are your mentors....smh

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    4. Nemeren, no one said you must like everything about her. You just said the only thing you didn’t like was her “brand” and she had specifically stated in the same response we all just read that she isn’t a brand. I was just stating that before many others jump on the bandwagon and start attacking a nonexistent “brand”.

      By the way, the Obama and John legend examples you made earlier, both their partners also have bios that state that they’re wives and neither of the two wives were plagued with sex scandals so it’ll be easy and natural for them to proudly shout it out to the world that they’re husbands to these awesome women. Bill on the other hand has a woman who forgave him after such an embarrassing scandal but he’s not proclaiming his husband status to the world, instead, Hillary is the one brandishing her wife status first. Just another angle one can view it from. But all in all, we’re all entitled to our views and opinions......... Just Saying

      Delete
  21. I love love this woman! The way she coins her words, she literally breaths life into it and it becomes a living thing and sticks with you.
    And yes the issue is not "wife" Hillary Clinton by nature of the environment she found herself compromised on what she originally would have loved to live by and it's unfair and she CNA wanted to understand how that worked out for her ( I'm sure she had faced been stereotyped and boxed into a mold she can't identify with) and yes she Hillary would have been a damned good president.

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  22. The movie Monalisa Smile right about summarises my opinion. I love Chim' I always say as an artist. I also love that she's opinionated and stands by what she believes. I mean a person who attended a Dior event decked in African prints without feeling the need to bow in acquiescence. Wawu that is something!
    However I don't always agree with her opinion. I think it takes just as much strength to pick up your career and run with it, as it takes to lay it down and face your kids. I am very career oriented and a mother. I know what it means to sacrifice your career for something and I appreciate those who do cos I can't do it.
    However, In the context of this interview, I don't think Chimamanda was critizing Clinton for being a wife, I think she was attacking the fact that Clinton is not true to herself by tagging herself as a 'wife' first. As it is, we all know Clinton describing herself first as a 'wife' is a political farce to appease the potential male chauvanist.
    Nigeria needs people like Chim' joor in this our society with our marriage marriage syndrome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Finally! Someone who gets the issue.

      Delete
    2. How does Chimamanda know Clinton is not being true to herself ????
      So you cant believe in something at first and change your mind later ?

      Delete
    3. Love this bit: I think it takes just as much strength to pick up your career and run with it, as it takes to lay it down and face your kids.
      Great! 👌

      Delete
    4. Anon 15:49, hence the reason she asked Hillary. If you don’t ask, you won’t know. She also got her answer, didn’t she?

      Delete
  23. CNA is leading by example. When you mention her name, the first thing that comes to mind is "writer/novelist". The next thing is "feminist". She is married, a mother but she doesn't wear it as a shield. She did not add her husband's name either. She is Chimamanda. Simple. Naija celebrities must wear their marriage status around their necks for validation and then bore us with their divorce saga afterwards. Wise women like SDK never talk publicly about "my husband". Her name is synonymous with her hustle which is blogging. CNA, biko a nom gi na azu. We are married but marriage alone does not define us.

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  24. My goodness! The same thing she said about jumping into conclusions is happening here with peoples comments!
    People will read and still take everything out of context. The writing above did not on any way shape or form was based on feminism/god etcetera as I see in people’s comments above.
    Oh well IQ isn’t supposed to be high in the general population. Lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let people interprete it and digest as they wish.
      Madam High IQ.

      Delete
  25. chimamandagrrmtolkienmariadrussel’sTHE SPARROW says:

    As for the useless man that said he will change his daughters name from chimamanda, this shows she is making the right moves, plus nobody cares about you. Na my folks ban Fela music, my interest spiked! Even after his death, fela remains irreplaceable...aptly named twoface bin wan try but none of his faces could agree.
    Na so father (priests) and parents generations ago talk say rock music and elvis na devil music, it rose in popularity beyond their generation, beyond elvis. Them talk about Madonna, her name, image, her song 'like a prayer' she is evuuuul, she dey fire dey go and is a good person asides her huge mountain (not body) of work!!!
    UNTO THE MATTER FOR GROUND, AS BN NO POST, MAKE I FACE SDK

    Chimamanda, this is a non issue biko. People did not watch nor read but reacted from their personal insecurities as usual.

    We are solidly behind you, not just us but millions of people, generations yet unborn will rely on your labour of love. Being female, black and one who asks questions is a big deal!!!

    World changers get criticised all the time, but as an artiste’s note that the worst reaction to your words is no reaction at all. Excessively positive reaction is to be suspected, Criticism is very much welcome, those from genuine tried and tested icons of change o, not those from people who did not even read to understand, people who still fall for blatant gradeschool level stunts like a ‘ pick and choose headline’, and other public manipulations.

    Tolkien suffered, GRRM went through the grind. Maria D Russel’s THE SPARROW was criticised because she as an author was boxed as being a religious female inspite of her accomplishments in the literary and science world.

    You are in great company, keep speaking and living your truth. Humanity truly depends on it

    It wiill be unpleasant for you as it is for us, lovers of your work, but at the end, your steadfastness will reflect in a culture that is changed for the better. GRRM did not see his work of art causing this much change in pop culture and he isnt done yet!!!

    WE STAND BY YOU ESPECIALLY IN YOUR TRYING TIMES, KEEP MAKING THEM UNCOMFORTABLE, KEEP WINNING!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. So many smart blog visitors.

    I am enjoying the comment section. Blog visitors can write sha. Unbelievable.

    SDK love child
    Beds and Roses
    And the rest.

    Keep up the good work.

    Just to point out, Chimamanda was talking about societal expectation of women. The fact that men have to see the domestic side of a womam before considering her for any political position, could that be the reason Hilary added Wife to her twiiter bio to appeal to the chauvinistic male and also humanize her? Same way our President totally trivalised the wife's opinion by referring her to the other room thereby telling the world that a woman is only recognized first by her domestic or relationship achievement rather than her advancement in her career or how intellectually sound she is.

    Let's be sincere. It doesn't matter how much a woman has achieved in business or career, everyone will ask, who is her man and where is her man?

    You wouldn't blame Chimamanda for being curious and discussing that with Hilary.

    Now women should be free to choose what they want to put on their Bio. If I decide to put 'Mother of many nations' in my Bio, that is my choice. You can ask me about it but do not force me to change it. If you decide not to take up your husband's name, that is your choice and I wouldn't argue with you about it. Women should be free to celebrate all their achievement. Feel free to add your PHD, MBA , Wife and let the next woman feel free to celebrate hers.

    What I don't understand is why we are making it to be a battle between married women and single women. The single women are attacking married women and their love for marriage and the married women are doing same, can we live?

    Also we need to talk about this our generation of women and how we compare everything with what men are doing. Why must I bear Mrs but why didn't his name change after getting married? These are petty issues that will distract us from the bigger picture which is to advance more like never before.

    Women, we are not in competition with men neither are we in competition with our fellow men. We are here to make the world better and we should be focused.

    KING XOXO MYSTERY

    ReplyDelete
  27. No matter what we still run this town, still second to us in everything, ibo folks need education, one eye man in the land of the blind, half of a yellow sun was a flop and I’m happy it was !!! Tongue out to team ccbitters and chisaddist

    ReplyDelete

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