What It Means To Be A Feminist Icon: Chimamanda Adiche’s Exclusive Interview With Vulture

Any need introducing Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche? Who doesn’t know the rare contemporary novelist who has earned celebrity status as a result of both her art and her politics. The mention of  novels like Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun cannot be omitted when making the list of award-winning, best-selling novels; both authored by Adiche.

 

“I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to tell stories, sadly, I also don’t remember a time when I wasn’t telling people what I think about the world.”says Adichie.

Currently on a brief visit to New York, excerpts from Adiche’s fantastic interview with Vulture magazine went thus:

You have a daughter of your own, do you have thoughts about raising boys? 

I think about that a lot. If I had a boy, one of the things I would do is not just say it’s okay to be vulnerable, but also to expect him to respect vulnerability. Actually, shaming him into vulnerability is a good idea, because there’s so much about the way that masculinity is constructed that’s about shame. What if we switch that shame around? Instead of shaming boys for being vulnerable, why don’t we shame them for notbeing vulnerable? I kind of feel — I was going to say I feel sorry for men, but I don’t want to say that.

How do we know when a given cultural attitude tips over from benign to malignant?

We don’t know. Here I am, a self-professed card-carrying feminist, and I don’t know. But it’s important not to overdo things; I don’t want to be that crazy feminist mother. I think human beings are hardwired to want to be valued and appearance is part of that. So my answer to your question is, “I don’t know.”

You’re arguably better known for being a feminist than you are for being a novelist. Does it matter to you if feminism is the main lens through which people read your fiction?

I don’t want to be read ideologically because my fiction isn’t ideological. If it were then all my women characters would be empowered. They’re not. In general, I don’t like reading fiction that is very ideologically consistent and where everybody does the right thing all the time. Life isn’t like that and fiction has to be about the real texture of life. Sometimes I’ll speak at schools and the students have been introduced to me as a feministAt a TEDx Talk in London in 2012, Adichie presented an inclusive definition for a feminist: “a man or a woman who says, ‘Yes, there’s a problem with gender as it is today, and we must fix it. We must do better.’” The talk had viral success outside the literary world with almost 5 million views, and, when expanded into a book, became a Times best seller. and they’ll ask questions like, “What is the feminist take on your character?” I don’t know the bloody feminist take on my character! I don’t know because that’s not where the impulse to write the character came from.

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.

Do you have a current idea for a new novel?

Yes, but maybe not.