Summary

The author’s seventh suggestion explains that marriage should not be considered or discussed as an “achievement” (30). To Ijeawele, the author says that her daughter should no more aspire to marriage than we expect little boys to aspire to marriage. She also briefly detours into a discussion arguing that women should be given the choice to change their names after marriage or not. They should also have the choice between adopting “Mrs.” and “Ms.,” which the author prefers because it is more in line with the male equivalent, “Mr.”

In her eighth suggestion, the author asks Ijeawele to teach her daughter to “reject likeability” (36). By “likeability,” the author means the “unspoken pressure” (37) that women feel to change themselves in order to please others and be “liked.” Rather than teaching Chizalum to be “likeable” or “nice,” the author tells Ijeawele to teach her to...