I really liked the TED Talk we watched. I’ve seen it before, but it was good to revisit the subject. I enjoyed how she emphasized how different races and ethnicities should be represented in literature. This would provide a multi-perspective way of reading literature and learning about different cultures. Also, I identified with her when she said the books she wrote and read were nothing like her. I used to feel like European beauty standards were the ideal because I didn’t read a book with someone who looked like me until I was in middle school when I read Esperanza Rising. European beauty standards are still the ideal, but I’m confident in who I am now and don’t want to fit a mold.
It’s so true when Adichie said Americans have one way of looking at Africa, mind you she’s Nigerian. Every country in Africa has a different culture, but Americans tend to blend them all in one. It’s funny how people still think Africa is a country and not a continent in 2020. Many Americans have a single story of Africa just being poor, dirty, needy, etc. But Africa is so much more than the stereotypes. Not only Africa, but other places too! I can’t stand when people just go off of stereotypes and live by them. They become narrow-minded. This kind of thinking closes them off to learning about a particular culture and being receptive to new ideas. Whenever I think about narrow-minded people, that one scene in Mean Girls comes to my mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8wrqe72YG4. When people have a single-story of everything, it only becomes a disadvantage. For instance, when she talked about how she spoke at a university and a student said it was a shame all Nigerian men were physical abusers. I liked how she retaliated with “I had just read American Psycho. It’s such a shame all young American men are serial killers”. I liked how she advocates for seeing every perspective of a story and not just being one-sided.
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