Dear Ijeawele, Or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions

This book gave me a whole new perspective on the word feminism. I don't know that I would have chosen to read this book based on the title, but hearing an interview with the author piqued my curiosity. So, I hit the library.

I had the picture of feminism that showed a woman who raged against the machine and wanted to stick it to the man. Like a female version of misogyny.

What I found represented in this book sounded very much like the things my grandmother taught me growing up. Treat people as equals, no matter who they are, where they come from, or where they are going. Growing up, I held a view that women were more righteous than men. The author rightly describes women as people with the same tendencies to be mean and ugly or kind and generous as men.

It should be pointed out that this book is based on a letter written to a friend about raising a daughter. As a parent, I appreciated the advice to let the child figure out their own tastes and interests without forcing ours on them.

I also appreciated how the author talks about men. Men are not painted as the enemy of women. Rather, the distinction is that men who treat women with respect as equals without old biases of women should be wives and mothers first and foremost are examples of men who are feminists.

For most of my life, I have been sensitive to injustice. Seeing a person or group of people being mistreated by another. More and more, I see that women have not been given the fair shake they deserve over the years. I personally want to be the kind of person who treats all others with equality and respect, evaluating them on their abilities and not on my biases.