Leah Petersen's Reviews > Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
My rating:
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
by Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn
by Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn
Leah Petersen's review
Feb 07, 10
Recommended to Leah by:
Female freind
Recommended for:
Americans
Read from February 02 to 07, 2010 — I own a copy, read count: 1
I've read a lot of books that are a sociological observation of oppression, discrimination, disease and poverty. I will be the first to admit my love-hate relationship with books of this nature, as they are the prime source of my maniac-depressant outlook on life, reality and humanity. While I drink these issues and predicaments up -I feel pushed closer to the brink of helplessness sitting in my tiny Brooklyn apartment, myself both struggling to pay rent and keep a job.
While some humanitarian books are overflowing with knowledge and facts, I come to the final chapter full of anxiety and pain -what can I do about this? I feel the great burden of guilt while purchasing food, clothes or sleeping in a pretty comfortable bed. My life becomes a mirage of guilt, I look through the eggplant I am cooking to the oppressed farmer in Chile, his wife and his family. I look through my Nike running shoes to the child seamstress in China, her life and her village. Where is a person to start?
In "Half the Sky" Mr. Kristof quoted Gandhi "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Not only did he quote Gandhi, he truly has lived this and also created this book as a manual for others to do the same. Through tales of women from around the world the author comes full circle from extreme human hardship, abuse or sometimes death; to success and happiness. He highlights hope and a good side of human beings, despite the horrid role numerous humans play as the villain in these stories. Unlike many privileged Westerners who posses a broad understanding of how people truly live around the world, he never gets preachy or elitist. He remains down here on earth, bluntly admitting failures even with the best intentions. These highlights of how "helping" is not always the definition one might think it would be was my primary area of praise for this book. He genuinely realizes the delicate nature of helping others and how respect and a open mind are two vital necessities to promoting any change at all.
Support and education seem to be the two most effective promoters of change and progress. Although support didn't always mean a cash flow or new possessions, a network of people who can assist morally and sometimes economically is crucial. And above all education is the key part of change. To give people knowledge and allow them to make educated decisions from their own perspectives. Education is the tool that allows everyone to see their worth and truly make CHOICES that allow them to live how they desire.
While some humanitarian books are overflowing with knowledge and facts, I come to the final chapter full of anxiety and pain -what can I do about this? I feel the great burden of guilt while purchasing food, clothes or sleeping in a pretty comfortable bed. My life becomes a mirage of guilt, I look through the eggplant I am cooking to the oppressed farmer in Chile, his wife and his family. I look through my Nike running shoes to the child seamstress in China, her life and her village. Where is a person to start?
In "Half the Sky" Mr. Kristof quoted Gandhi "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Not only did he quote Gandhi, he truly has lived this and also created this book as a manual for others to do the same. Through tales of women from around the world the author comes full circle from extreme human hardship, abuse or sometimes death; to success and happiness. He highlights hope and a good side of human beings, despite the horrid role numerous humans play as the villain in these stories. Unlike many privileged Westerners who posses a broad understanding of how people truly live around the world, he never gets preachy or elitist. He remains down here on earth, bluntly admitting failures even with the best intentions. These highlights of how "helping" is not always the definition one might think it would be was my primary area of praise for this book. He genuinely realizes the delicate nature of helping others and how respect and a open mind are two vital necessities to promoting any change at all.
Support and education seem to be the two most effective promoters of change and progress. Although support didn't always mean a cash flow or new possessions, a network of people who can assist morally and sometimes economically is crucial. And above all education is the key part of change. To give people knowledge and allow them to make educated decisions from their own perspectives. Education is the tool that allows everyone to see their worth and truly make CHOICES that allow them to live how they desire.
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A great review! You are one of many readers who described this book as inspiring or who gave it 4 or 5 STARS.
The authors of this book intended to inspire us. They sought not merely to provide us with a rich reading experience, desirable and enjoyable for its own sake. They sought also to spur us to action.
That is why, in the final chapter of their book, they recommended to us these actions:
Four Steps You Can Take in Ten Minutes:
1. Go to Global Giving or KIVA and open an account
2. Sponsor a girl or a woman through Plan International, Women for Women International, World Vision, or American Jewish World Service.
3. Sign up for e-mail updates at Women’s e-News and World Pulse
4. Join the CARE Action Network
(The GET INVOLVED page on the Half the Sky website is filled with other ways to get involved.)
That is also why, in addition, they also revealed to us what they themselves did:
• Supported a program for runaway girls on Global Giving
• Lent money to a woman in Paraguay through Kiva
• Sponsored children through Plan International
It seems to me that we, who have read their book, ought to do likewise. We ought to say what we have done, hoping thereby not only to encourage others to read the book, but also to empower those others to do something: to make a difference for the girls and women about whom the book was written.
You are right: this book is a manual for action. Something that I did: made a donation at the Global Giving website to a project for educating girls in Malawi. If you were inspired by this book, perhaps you can tell us something that you did.
