“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story. ” Chimamanda Adichie in “The Danger of a Single Story” main point is that each human-being contain a diverse collection of stories. If we judge people by one issue then we will be taking away their humanity. The stories made by certain age group, race, ethnicity, or gender have become identity markers. Throughout this article, Adichie wants to get across that there is more than what we uphold about people’s culture or group. She uses her life experience as an example of how we have become so judgemental due to politics or society. She mentions how her American roomate felt sorry for her before knowing anything about her just because she was Nigerian. Adichie also describes how when she went to Mexico she immediately viewed a Mexican as an immigrant. She instantly viewed him as an immigrant because immigration was the number one stereotype of Mexicans. With this being said, she comes to the conclusion that there is always a single story and as individuals we never extend the goods of the stories we tell about different ethnicities or races. From single person perspective of one another is how we judge and stereotype. “Every time I see women with an infant, I know I am seeing a woman at work.” Marilyn Waring in the first chapter of Counting for Nothing analysis the different feminist economic point of views the world persists on women all around the world. Warning observes that in this economic system in the United Nations have women categorized as ‘useless’ or at least ‘non-producers’ as she mentions in her introduction. As ‘non-producers’ women shouldn’t expect any benefits that flow from ‘working.’ However, Warning argues that women should be considered hard workers and productive individuals because even as a housewife, home and children are work. In her reading, she compares two women, Cathy and Tendai. Cathy is a housewife, she spends her whole day preparing the laundry, food, cleaning, and taking care of her children. Tendai is the nanny of her family, she is in charge of doing all house chores and taking care of her family. However, according to society they are both consider useless, lazy, and not part of the labor force according to the international economic system. Warning compares Tendai and Cathy to two men. Ben, is a highly trained military of the U.S military service, his job consists of waiting for hours for an order to fire a nuclear missile. Mario is a heroin addict, however, he illegally helps contribute hidden economy for Italy. Both of their jobs are considered to be valuable because they contribute to the nation’s, growth and productivity, according to the international system. Warning’s main objective is for the world to realize that the work of women whether at home or in the nations work field, it should be valuable and it is economically productive. In the economic system that exists; housewives are not considered workers. “All women” are replaced by culture-specific essentialist generalizations that depend on totalizing categories such as “Western culture,’ “non-Western cultures,” “Indian women,” and “Muslim women.”Narayan is claiming that most women share the same characteristics and struggles, yet they’re categorized by social and cultural differences. As women issues become global, feminism becomes more of a concern when dealing with different national and cultural differences. Narayan refers to “The Packaging Picture of Culture” as an understanding of wrapped packages that contain different contents that different individuals. She believes the packages are wrapped wrong because they are various political agendas that assigned the cultures in different places. She uses the Western Culture and ancient Greece as an example to explain her claim of the picture of culture. Narayan argues that Western Culture establishing in ancient Greece and in the United States, a historical perspective will claim that the ancient Greeks couldn’t identify themselves as a part of “Western Culture” as Narayan mentions. The “American Culture” will be distinguished as “European culture” rather than incorporating to it. Another aspect of The Package Pictures of Cultures will be that human-beings assume they know what “culture” means and who belongs to it. The Package Pictures of Cultures mainly focuses on the central practices of values, or traditions or any particular culture which hides how projects of cultural conversate themselves over years. Narayan also claims that through The Package Pictures of Culture, present various problems for feminist agendas because it illustrates culturally commands norms of femininity.
