Monday, January 2, 2012

I Am Fortunate

I've been reading an important book. It's called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by married couple Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. I AM a feminist and I DO know that oppression is a daily burden for women in many places of the world, but I often feel so distant from the problem. The authors of this book are journalists who, through their work, witnessed many instances of this oppression first hand and knew they needed to do something to try to change things. In their book, they tell the horrifying stories of individuals kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery, subjected to violent attacks and rapes, injured or killed during childbirth due to the low prioritizing of medical care for women, and numerous other injustices. The individual stories stand in for the unbelievably high number of girls and women suffering, and they help a reader like me sympathize on a deeper level than statistics can. Whenever I turn my gaze back out into the more distant world, I remember that I should do more with my life to make a difference. The privilege I enjoy is due to nothing more than good luck. I need to give thought and do research to see what I can do to help. I'll start here: http://www.halftheskymovement.org.

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