How Adichie’s Feminist Pamphlet Started a Trending Twitter Hashtag | #BeingFemaleInNigeria

Thanks to Chimamanda Adichie’s feminist booklet, an Abuja-based book club sent the hashtag #BeingFemaleInNigeria on a trending spike yesterday. That beautiful moment when you realize that books can change the world!

Okay maybe not change the world but at least get people talking about things that truly matter—like raising awareness about sexism in Nigerian society.

Here is how the story goes, as told by Buzzfeed.

It all started as a book club meeting led by a woman named Florence Warmate. The group of about 15 women met to discuss Adichie’s purse-size book on feminism, “We Should All Be Feminists.” They ended up ended up spending a good bit of their time sharing their challenges as women living in Nigeria.

“We were discussing the book, started talking about our own experiences and thought we should take this to a larger audience,” Warmate tells Buzzfeed who spoke to her on the phone.

At lunch break the following day, they put the hashtag, #BeingFemaleInNigeria, in circulation and asked women to speak out about their experiences. The response was overwhelming.

The hashtag has since been used over 17,000 times on Twitter by women and men across the country to comment on sexism in everyday Nigerian life.

This is the kind of moment that an author lives for—when your work inspires people to think deeply about the need for change. Adichie must be delighted.

Here are some of the tweets:

But Madam, what did you do for your husband to beat you like this? Why did you provoke him? #BeingFemaleInNigeria

— Vera Ezimora (@verastic) June 30, 2015

No Lagos landlord will rent their property to you unless you come with the man ‘that owns you’ otherwise you’re ashewo #BeingFemaleInNigeria — Molara Wood (@molarawood) June 30, 2015

#beingfemaleinnigeria leaving Radisson Blu, on a Tuesday morning, i was held back asked to call who I came to visit before they let me go .

— Florence Warmate (@FlorenceWarmate) June 30, 2015

#BeingFemaleInNigeria “Your husband cooked? And you opened your mouth and ate the food? What kind of woman are you?” — Bibiire o se f’owora (@yew1e) June 30, 2015

It’s shocking when you are beautiful and smart. Apparently they are mutually exclusive. #BeingFemaleInNigeria

— MR President (@duchesskk) June 30, 2015

#BeingFemaleInNigeria If you get pregnant before marriage, you’re useless. If you don’t get pregnant after marriage, you’re useless. — Bunny (@_Alphawoman) June 30, 2015

#beingfemaleinnigeria is tipping the restaurant worker with YOUR money from YOUR bag but the worker thanking your male companion instead.

— u.u (@KhaleesiNU) June 30, 2015

Having to remind people that the Bible makes man ‘head of the HOME’ Not office, not classroom and def not Lagos roads. #BeingFemaleInNigeria — Somi Ekhasomhi (@SomiEkhasomhi) June 30, 2015

Forget your CV and enter kitchen. #BeingFemaleInNigeria

— Chukwuebuka Akara (@ebuka_akara) June 30, 2015

#BeingFemaleInNigeria From 25 till death you will be bugged about 1. When will you marry 2. When will you born 3. We want boys — Young Billionaire (@shadeladipo) June 30, 2015

#beingfemaleinNigeria Nobel Prize, Law Degree, travel to the moon. No matter what you achieve, you’re nothing unless you’re married.

— Ijeoma OgwuegbuUduma (@IjeomaOgud) June 30, 2015

#beingfemaleinnigeria if you own a car, you couldn’t possibly have bought it with your own money — Andie Okon (@Andiva) June 30, 2015