I would like to ask that we begin to dream about and plan for a different world. A fairer world. A world of happier men and hapier women who are truer to themselves. And this is how to start : we must raise our daughters differently. We must also raise our sons differently.
"The first time I taught a writing class in graduate school, I was worried. Not about the teaching material, because I was well prepared and I was teaching what I enjoyed. Instead I was worried about what to wear. I wanted to be taken seriously.
I knew that because I was female, I would automatically have to prove my worth. And I was worried that if I looked too feminine, I would not be taken seriously. I really wanted to wear my shiny lip gloss and my girly skirt, but I decided not to. I wore a very serious, very manly and very ugly suit.
The sad truth of the matter is that when it comes to appearance, we start off with men as the standard, as the norm. Many of us think that the less feminine a woman appears, the more likely she is to be taken seriously. A man going to a business meeting doesn't wonder about being taken seriously based on what he is wearing - a woman does."
I singled out this quote because it reminded me of a book written by a French lawyer many years ago, Gisèle Halimi, who had exactly the same problem... in the 50s. That the fact is still truly is as the same time very sad and very infuriating. I also remember what I heard that old white Frenchman tell me when I was applying for a job about women having to really work, not just do their nails while talking about the latest film they, saw... My jaw is still on the floor.
This little essay by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is absolutely wonderful, true and necessary. It's very short but full of dignity (and humour !), brilliant, thought provoking and was written after the conference she gave for TED (see below). Everybody should read this !!
No comments:
Post a Comment