A Swedish women’s rights organisation is to distribute printed copies of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s award-winning TED Talk ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ to Sweden’s 16 year-old high school students to ensure use as a “stepping stone” for discussions about gender equality.
Since being uploaded on Youtube over 2 years ago, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s famous TED Talk ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ has generated almost two and a half million views. It has earned the Nigerian author awards, been transcribed and published as an essay and even featured on pop musician Beyoncé’s track ‘Flawless’.

Adichie’s words have now reached the frosty climes of Scandinavia where the Swedish Women’s Lobby, the Albert Bonniers Förlag together with the UN association of Sweden, LO, The Order of the Teaspoon, Unizon and Gertrud Åström is to distribute a printed version of the talk to all high schools in Sweden.

“This is the book that I wish all of my male class mates would have read when I was 16. It feels so important to contribute to this project. It is a gift to all second grade high school students, but it is also a gift to ourselves and future generations,” says Clara Berglund, Chairperson of Swedish Women’s Lobby.

In a video message for the students, Adichie said that she hopes to live in a world one day where there won’t be a need for feminism because men and women will be truly equal.

The talk has grown to become a rallying call for men and women across the world to address the gender-based inequalities in the world but has also called on men to break out of the “hard cage” of modern masculinity that forces them to hide fear and sensitivity.

Publisher Johanna Haegerström said: “Our hope is that the Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie text will open up a conversation about gender and gender roles, starting from young people’s own experiences.”