I first heard Chimamanda Adichie's voice when Beyoncé sampled Adichie's "We Should All Be Feminists" speech in her song "Flawless." Adichie's words were powerful and really resonated with me, so when I heard she was the closing speaker at Inbound I was beyond excited.
She carries herself with grace and speaks in a way that doesn't alienate any demographic, no matter their beliefs. She spoke about blackness in America, the social construct of gender roles, and the restraints of masculinity which lead to feelings of entitlement.
Adichie first came to America from Nigeria when she was 19 and said that she had never viewed herself as "black" until she experienced life in the United States. She said, “the problem is not blackness because blackness is beautiful. The problem is the stereotypes American society has imposed on blackness.”
She also spoke about oppression in the form of sexism– “Oppression works in complicated ways. We are all guilty of absorbing stereotypes. If you live in a world that devalues women, you’re likely to grow up devaluing women. Patriarchy is an old, human habit and like all old, human habits it will take a long time to die. But we can destigmatize."
Adichie explained the social constructs of masculinity and gender roles:
"Masculinity is a small, tight, ugly cage. The moment we tell a young boy 'boys don’t cry' or we tell a hurting teen to 'man up' we are creating an adult man who will be cheated of his human emotions. We can tell a different story of what masculinity is. We can also tell a different story about gender roles, because there’s no such thing. There’s nothing a woman should be because she’s a woman. A man could do something and be called confident. A woman could do the same thing and be called arrogant. It isn't about the behaviors at all, it's about equality. Too many men feel that they have a right to women’s bodies. No she doesn’t have to give you a reason for saying no.”
Her speech was powerful, inspiring, and encouraging. She challenged the audience to listen to each other, especially to those who have different beliefs. She stressed the importance of understanding how others view the world so that we can work together to create more space and widen the boundaries so one day we can create a world where everyone believes they truly matter.