I will be amazed if anyone is still checking this blog, but here comes a post anyway! It has been a long hiatus, and I apologize. In the past couple of months, we bought a house, moved across the country, changed jobs, finished one thesis (my husband's) and started another (mine)--and of course, there's always that thing where we're chasing a toddler (or rather, waddling behind a toddler, since I'm third-trimester-pregnant). We are settled into our new home now, internet access and all, so I think that I will be returning you to your regularly scheduled blog-programming.
Today I mostly just have a recommendation. Last week a friend forwarded me an amazing article that was recently published in the New York Times. This article, "The Women's Crusade," was written by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. If Kristof's name sounds familiar to you, it might be because of his regular Times column that often addresses, among other social issues, global women's issues. Past columns have covered topics like sex trafficking, maternal health and obstetric fistula, and mass rape as an element of warfare. (You can access a full list of his columns here.)
Kristof and WuDunn (who are married to each other) have written a new book called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Worldwide, which is scheduled to be released in early September. In preparation for the book release, the Times published an excerpt from the book under the title "The Women's Crusade." Please take some time to go read this article. If it is any indication of the quality of the book, you can bet I will be reviewing the rest of the book soon. "The Women's Crusade" is an excellent introduction to a number of issues that affect women around the world, such as domestic violence, poverty, bride burning, sex-selective abortion, sex slavery, maternal mortality, health, education, etc. etc. I hope to delve more deeply into some of these topics in future blog posts, but for now the excerpt from the book will provide you will a good overview, and a sense of why these issues are so urgent.
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3 comments:
I agree that this article was fabulous, but one undercurrent left me feeling conflicted as I often do when I read articles about the triumphs of oppressed groups. While I want to celebrate with women around the world as we all struggle against an oppressive patriarchal system, sometimes I sense in these articles that it is somehow primarily the responsibility (and, resultingly, the glory) of the oppressed when they (we) manage to escape from under the giant thumb. I feel keenly the responsibility that does, and must, rest with the perpetrators of such heinous offenses. Every one woman's victory is everyone's, in a sense, but I can't stop my mind from remembering that while a power differential exists, those with more power and privilege will always find ways to oppress those with less.
I think the best thing about this article was the overview it provided of so many issues salient in the lives of millions of women today. I still take issue with the lack of discussion about what would help the oppressors want to heal from their misplaced sense of power so that the demand will dry up rather than simply being displaced into another realm.
Hope this made sense.
forgot to subscribe to the comments :)
I really like your comment, Amy--that makes a lot of sense to me. I agree with you that the best feature of this article is that it's an introduction to dozens of issues that some people might not know about. I want to read the book and see if it addresses more fully the issues you raised in your comment.
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