The Danger of a Single Story

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Ted Talk

Her talk is 20 minutes well spent.  Not only is she eloquent and funny, but her message is clear and powerful.  Below are a few excerpts from her discussion about the "danger of a single story" in case you find yourself without time to watch it.


She first details some of her experiences growing up in an average family in Nigeria and encountering those less fortunate than her.

All I had head about them was how poor they were, so it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor.  That poverty was my one story about them.

Later when she came to the United States, her American roommate was confused that she spoke English so well and shared many of the same cultural traits. Her roommate had a "patronizing, well meaning pity... There was no possibility of feelings more complex than pity."

This one was too funny not to share: 

A student told me that it was such a shame that Nigerian men were physical abusers like the character in my novel.  I had told him that I had just read a novel called American Psycho and it was such a shame that young Americans were serial murderers.

She explains that as she had heard many stories about young Americans, it did not occur to her that this one story could encompass an entire group of  peoples.  She finishes by highlighting the dangers of having a single story (excerpts from various parts of the talk):

So that is how to create a single story, show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become...The consequence of the single story is this: it robs people of dignity... It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar... When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise.

This concept is so simple that it is quite astounding to hear it said out loud.  An earlier post here by HC mentions stereotypes: 

 Ultimately, the stereotype allows someone to not spend time meeting another person, but instead makes them feel an immediate familiarity with everyone they encounter. In essence stereotyping allows for each individual to construct their own reality that does not truly mirror the actual world they inhabit. 

I think Adichie's talk brings more depth to this point . We enter new situations with an already preconceived notion of what to expect, automatically drawing upon the "one story" we have heard over and over again.  As she mentions about her family friends "it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor."

Ultimately, recognizing this narrowing of focus can have huge applications on any walk of life.  Once children start hearing that mothers can be firefighters, scientists, or businesswomen, they will no longer have the expectation that all moms are homemakers.  One particular example comes to mind which appeared on the internet in January.  A picture surfaced showing a black male carrying a baby and doing the hair of his daughter, resulting in some racist and insulting backlash:

'He probably rented those kids. They don't even look like him,' 'Look at this Uncle Tom. No chance he would be doing this if his kids were black.' 'I would bet anything that you're a deadbeat,' and  'Cute picture. Now why don't you hand the children back to their mom so you can go back to selling drugs or your bootleg rap CDs?'

Clearly, these individuals have heard a singular story regarding male black fathers. If this hard working father (an Idris Elba-like man may I add?)  is already pigeonholed by a cultural "one story", what is the world like for equivalent, hard-working women?

I know I have definitely fallen victim to the dangers of the single story (from within and without).  What about you?

Disregarding Gender Stereotypes

Society finds refuge in stereotypes because it provides a safe-zone where you aren’t required to really know someone as an individual and can instead fill in the gaps with prefabricated ideas. Stereotypes are efficient – they are time-savers.  As hard as certain portions of society fight against stereotyping, its allure is stronger than ever in this technologically-driven world where the pursuit of self-gratification, endless efficiency, and the now-dubiously categorized “friends” is tantamount. Most people simply don’t have the time – or don’t make the time – to stop, converse, and truly try to understand the other human beings around them.

Perhaps because I grew up between cultures and, inevitably, was always perceived as Other, I have never felt bound to my stereotypically defined roles. As a child and adolescent I grew up surrounded by “Third Culture” individuals: people who, like me, had lived in different places, had been disassociated from their native country, and had turned into something new that belonged within no national boundaries. It was a space where people held on to a vague sense of nationality but in the end embraced a larger, more inclusive, sense of self. Not being trapped within these confines meant that anything was possible.

I have always done what has interested me and, as I have discovered recently, this has made me very difficult to categorize. By inadvertently defying categorization, I have triggered many different responses in people – ranging from an interest to pursue non-conventional hobbies to a pro-stereotyping defensive stance. Over the past few months, it has been brought to my attention that my combined interests in fashion (borderline shopaholic) and martial arts are simply inconceivable. For the most part, the negative reactions have come due to a perceived threat to masculinity. I never have pursued something because of a specified gender convention and the idea that practicing a martial art can be a threat to someone’s masculinity seems irrational. Is a man who can sew or dance ballet threatening to my femininity? No.

From the comments I have heard, it seems like my martial hobbies would be more acceptable if I were a “masculine” woman – whatever that means. This makes me feel that challenging gender norms is usually perceived as objectionable but that if other stereotyping conventions can come into play, it can be tolerable. However, if stereotyping is completely unhelpful in building a perception of an individual, than the gender-defying activity is seen as increasingly unacceptable. This reaction points to an overall reliance on stereotypes in “creating” the people we meet. Ultimately, the stereotype allows someone to not spend time meeting another person, but instead makes them feel an immediate familiarity with everyone they encounter. In essence stereotyping allows for each individual to construct their own reality that does not truly mirror the actual world they inhabit.

For more information about what a Third Culture individual is check out this website: http://www.denizenmag.com/third-culture-kid/