Apr 10, 2012

Women hold up half the sky

Mao Zedong famously said that women hold up half the sky and he was right.... we make up 50% of the population yet we are discrimated against, abused, denied civil rights and perceived as inferior..... When will this change? And how can we change this?


Half the Sky is a book written by two dedicated journalists and leaders in championing women's rights - Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
"Just as slavery was the defining struggle of the nineteenth century and totalitarianism that of the twentieth, the fight to end the oppression of women and girls worldwide defines ours."


BUT, change is happenning. From Somaliland to Cambodia to Afghanistan, oppression is being confronted and real, meaningful solutions are being fashioned—through health care, education and economic empowerment for women and girls. 






From the book, a documentary project was inspired, you can watch the trailer here and below are some of the best quotes I picked out:


"Issue of gender equality globally must be addressed if the problems that we share across the world are to be solved" Ruth J. Simmons, President, Brown University.


"Women are not the problem, they are the solution" Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn


"You can't come up with something more beautiful than a young, innocent girl. And to inflict that experience on that human being is unspeakably cruel" Meg Ryan


"I want to inspire survival, to stand up and say no, if they want to say no" Somaly Mam


"We shouldn't allow the violence that is being inflicted on women to continue, it must stop because it can stop and they need to part of the solution" Amie Kandeh


"This is not a problem that is unsolveable, that we have to invent something new, it just takes political will" Sheryl WuDunn


"The rights we want; we want to choose our husband, we want to own the land, we want to go to school; we dont want to be cut anymore, we want also to make decisions, we want to participate in politics, to be leaders, we want to be equal" Rebecca Lolosoli 


"The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world" Desmond Tutu






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