There is no Deity like the Mother

(By Funmi Iyanda) - There is no deity like the mother. Orishas are not long suffering doormats or self flattening emotional martyrs. They are deities. Full of power, subservient to no one, knowing that only in her own fullness can she bestow gifts of life, love, energy and power to others. Only the most deserving man gets to be with her as long as he recognises his role is to embellish her. In doing this he finds fuel to be a man of true strength and beauty. She doesn't need completeness, she's whole. In ancient Yoruba land, the woman's worth is closely tied to motherhood but this is however not some simplistic, self congratulatory child birthing which lesser animal are capable of without fan fare. 

Adichie, Feminism, and "Flawless"

If anyone has the skills to make a speech about feminism go viral, it’s Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Lagos-based writer whose ideas are as complex as her language is straightforward. Previously best known for her fiction, Adichie delivered a TEDx Talk in 2013 so nuanced and rousing, Beyoncé sampled it in her empowerment anthem “Flawless.” Titled “We Should All Be Feminists,” Adichie’s oration weaved together human stories from her youth in Nigeria with a complicated discourse about gender roles in the modern world and a literal textbook definition of “feminism,” which she read aloud about halfway through. Today, the speech comes out in eBook form, which you can purchase here. Reached by phone in Lagos, Adichie spoke to Vogue.com about the overwhelming success of her speech and what it means to talk politics with the whole world.

What was it like to have your ideas about feminism go so viral?

It felt strange and surprising. I had done one TED Talk and I felt that I had already said what I could, in fact, say, and I didn’t think I had anything else worth talking about. But then I also realized the one thing I cared about is gender, feminism. So I said, "Okay, I’ll do it." But I thought, This is not going to be popular, because it’s obvious that feminism for many people is a bad word, even if you believe in it, the word is off-putting. I thought seven people would care. I was surprised, but pleasantly so.

Is it always the goal of a writer to reach as many people as possible?

I don’t think in those terms. For this speech, it was an audience of mostly Africans, an audience I wanted to reach. I remember when I started off, just having a sense of push back, I knew that it was a subject that wasn’t popular, so when people stood up and clapped, that was success. My expectations had been low, so I was just surprised.