Feminist and Queer Issues in/as Popular Culture

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Reflection Paper: Feminist and Queer Issues In/As Popular Culture
Introduction
With the changing society, there is need to change the perception and attitude towards gender roles in our society. People’s attitude and perception about feminism depends on their upbringing, which usually portrays feminism as negative. The negativity of feminism has been passed down from one generation to another. This essay explains various definitions of feminism looking at a wider view rather than viewing it from individual perception. The essay explains the importance of looking at feminism in a positive way by balancing gender roles in a way that does not discriminate women. In relation to this, the paper illustrates various experiences by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Gay Roxane and Basden Lorin, illustrating how people become vulnerable based on the literature presented to individuals. These literatures narrow down our perception, presenting feminism from a single point of view.
According to Chimamanda’s experience, people view different issues based on literature that does not represent the true picture. Most literatures define specific topics from a single point of view. For example, Chimamanda read mostly about foreign literatures portraying Africa negatively. However, after coming across African writers like Chinua Achebe her perception of Africa shifted; the writers described Africa positively compared to the foreign literature she reads (Chimamanda). Therefore, African authenticity becomes different based on a single story. Based on Chimamanda’s experience, showing people one thing through a single story will always portray people in that single view. There is power in a story, depending on who tells the story, how the story begins and where the story originates from. Single story creates stereotype,meaning that it is incomplete. It also robs people of their dignity by making people look different than be similar. How stories are told matters a lot as it changes the perception of people. Feminism also suffers the same problem as it is usually defined from a single story perspective (Chimamanda).
Most African cultures view feminists as people who are unhappy just because they cannot find a husband. However, Chimamanda decides to call herself a happy feminist even though she is an African because she does not support the cultural description of feminism. It is a common mistake that people assume that what is obvious in a society is obvious to everyone. Therefore, societies appreciate men than women because they believe men have an upper hand than women. According to Chimamanda, this is ironical because women are the majority yet most positions are held by men. Due to the genealogical history of most societies, men have the upper hand than women. With time, this perception has begun to change as feminism is viewed as balancing gender roles by not discriminating women when bringing up children (Chimamanda).
Due to the changing perceptions in the society, feminism is referred to as a situation where women do not want to be treated like trash. Feminism provides a platform by giving women voices, making them feels empowered especially in a world where there are many voices. Feminist me...