By Pascal Oparada
Social media went into overdrive on Tuesday over a question Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, asked former U.S. Secretary of State and presidential candidate of the Democrats, Hillary Clinton.
Adichie had asked Clinton why her Twitter bio would begin with ‘wife’ and, according to her, she felt upset when she saw that.
“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,’” she said.
This seems to have irked a lot of social media users, even women.
Executive Director of CEE-HOPE, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) for the protection of children’s rights, Betty Abah, told Adichie that feminism revolves around personal choices and rights. She said in a Facebook post that Adichie should respect Clinton’s and every woman’s identity chronology.
Abah said: “Dear Chimamanda, since feminism revolves around personal choices and rights, I think you may want to respect Madam Hilary’s and indeed, every woman’s on their identity chronology—the order in which they want to be seen, known or addressed—especially for Clinton who has excelled in every of those angles. Just like you wouldn’t like to ‘perform pregnancy’ while others like to announce theirs on rooftops minutely. It’s their choice.
In any case, how does being a mother, wife or grandma, or dad, husband or granddad take away from anyone’s other accomplishments?
Choices all the way, and the choices to revel in them the way they like.”
Kayode Ogundamisi, social commentator, and an analyst said that Adichie has taken her feminism to the extreme by querying Clinton.
“Chimamanda is carrying her feminist police too far, I am with her on exposing the randy Nigerian media man but can’t a FREE woman chose what and how she describes self?”, Ogundamisi said.
Blessing Abeng (@Ms_Einsteinette) said in a Twitter thread that being a housewife is a serious job and someone describing herself as one does not diminish her importance.
“Being a housewife is a job in itself! It is a strong role. I have seen housewives and I could never do what they do. I believe that if a woman chooses to be a housewife, she should not be dragged.
“Why is respect the ultimate solution? I believe your beliefs and choices should be respected. I believe in treating people as individuals and not a group. I dislike that feminism has watered down the place of a housewife,” Abeng said.
Others tried to cut Adichie some slacks. Feministe ( @B_more) said, “I don’t understand how anyone will describe Chimamanda’s question as hatred towards men. FFS this has nothing to do with men, it’s simply about how women identify themselves which doesn’t even concern men. But no, every day is a ‘drag a feminist day’.
Unconfirmed reports said Clinton agreed to change her bio in her twitter handle. Clinton’s bio still leads with ‘wife’ as of the time of filing this report.
Adichie had in September taken a swipe at the Nigerian government over its treatment of former petroleum minister, Deziani Allison-Madueke.
According to her, Dieziani’s case would not be capitalized on if she was a man because stealing money is a norm practiced by Nigerian politicians.
Adichie is a renowned Nigerian novelist whose books have won several international awards, including the Orange Prize for Literature.
She once told Christine Amanpour of CNN that the reason she took up feminism is that she grew up in Nigeria.
“I didn’t become a feminist because I read about second-wave feminism,” says the author Adichie. “I became a feminist because I grew up in Nigeria, and observed the world. And just saw what felt to me like an injustice that made no sense,” she told Amanpour.
