Chimamanda Adichie Talks Motherhood And What It Means To Be A “Feminist Icon”

Celebrated Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie (40 years) in an interview with New York based VULTURE Mag gave a detailed perspective into a lot of issues going on in today’s world. The author opened up on r#pe, raising children,Melania Trump, empathy and a lot of other topics.

In responding to VULTURE’s David Marchese’s question on motherhood, Chimamanda Adichie said:

“I used to think I wouldn’t be a good mother because I was so dedicated to my art. I said to myself, I have nephews and nieces who I adore, and I helped raise them, so those will be my children. That’s what I thought for a long time, because I felt that I couldn’t be true to both my art and my child.”



Why are people so quick to tag you as a feminist rather than a novelist?

Feminism is an easy hook. In a way, literature is more diverse, and maybe it’s easier for people to peg me as a feminist icon than a novelist. But I’ve always been interested in politics. The burning thing of how do we make things better is what makes me keep talking about feminism. And I have to tell you: doing that is not always good for my art. I’m trying to better balance my time. But talking about feminism comes from passion. I really believe we can make the world better.



Were you worried about what having a child would mean for your art?

Yes. I used to think I wouldn’t be a good mother because I was so dedicated to my art. I said to myself, I have nephews and nieces who I adore, and I helped raise them, so those will be my children. That’s what I thought for a long time, because I felt that I couldn’t be true to both my art and my child.

What changed?

Getting older. I like to joke and say that you’re ready [to have a child] when your body isn’t ready, and when your body is ready, you’re not mentally ready. I guess you have the best eggs when you’re, like, 22, but at 22 you don’t even know yourself. Then when you’re 38 and know yourself, your eggs are not the best quality. Anyway, we’ll talk about eggs another time. But my baby happened, and it’s important to talk honestly about this, because having her changed a lot. Having a child gets in the way of writing. It does. You can’t own your time the way you used to. But the other thing that motherhood does — and I kind of feel sorry for men that they can’t have this — is open up a new emotional plane that can feed your art.

VULTURE proceeded to find out if #Metoo has changed gender and power dynamics in meaningful ways. Chimamanda Adichie responded: I hope it does, but it hasn’t. What I like about #MeToo is the idea that now women’s stories have the possibility of being believed, which is almost revolutionary. Now a woman can tell her story and she might still get castigated, but there’s the possibility that she gets public support and that there are consequences for whoever harassed or assaulted her. That’s not happened before. But the shape of the narratives around #MeToo can still be troubling.

Read the full interview here: http://www.vulture.com/2018/07/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-in-conversation.html