Analysis Of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED Talk

In her TED talk, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about the role of perception in her life and how it has affected her. Many times we have been through experiences that surprise us in regard to perception, such as the first time we meet someone from another culture. We have been inundated with stereotypes and preconceived notions since we were children, through stories, media, parents, teachers, and friends. Furthermore, these presuppositions that we carry are rarely, if ever, based on anything substantial, yet they show up in every part of our life. Adichie calls this notion of this one sided preconceived bias the “single story.” This “single story” is interesting due to the fact that even if we can overcome it, we are still affected by it. Adichie speaks about how even though she had become enlightened to this dilemma, she is still subject to it. As for her experience, she says this,

Adichi’s answer to this is about power and repetition, the power to create a story for a specific person, and the repetition of showing them as that one specific stereotype over and over again, which changes our thoughts about them.

How does this affect the way that we interact with people? During Clint Smith’s TED talk, he shares a story of his childhood, and the way that his parents were forced to raise him so that he wouldn’t become a statistic.

These are the scenarios that become part of our lives due to biased perceptions. Furthermore, this story shows how presumptions shape the way we are expected to behave. Most of us do not think about these preconceived stereotypes, how they affect people, or that we even have them. Therefore, those of us whom these notions are applied to must live within the restrictions of them until the ignorance is broken. However, we are all subject to the perception of others, not just a black man, or an Indian woman, all of us. Cameron Russell, a professional lingerie model, states