Book Review: Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide

Guest post by Stephanie Finigan. You can follow Stephanie on Twitter.

Forced prostitution, honor killings, death by childbirth….these are not exactly the kind of topics that ignite a lot of water-cooler conversations or eager text messages to girlfriends.

In fact, some of you might be ready to stop reading this post right here – you’re enjoying your day, killing some time by checking out a few of your favorite virtual stomping grounds. The last thing you want to do is read some depressing blog post about the plight of women in developing countries.

I get it. I heart my “US Weekly” as much as the next person (possibly more. Ask my friends). But I implore you to stay with me, as this book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide, by Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, is one of the most compelling books of the year.

If you don’t believe me, just ask Oprah.

“Women Hold Up Half The Sky”

Kristof and WuDunn wrote Half the Sky (the title is from a Chinese proverb, “Women hold up half the sky”) to bring to light the most serious issues faced by women in developing countries – issues that go woefully under reported by mainstream media, as is admitted openly by Kristof and WuDunn, both career journalists. Half the Sky focuses on three types of abuse suffered by women in the developing world: sex trafficking, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality. And though these topics are likely – thankfully-  far from our own day to day lives,  this book manages to make these womens’ unimaginable trials very real to the reader.

What is easy to forget – and what Half the Sky works so hard to remind us – is we are all fundamentally the same. Suffering is not limited to the poor, and joy does not exclusively belong to the rich.

If a child dies in Tanzania, his mother hurts just as much as a mother here in the US would. She may not have the luxury time to be able to fully grieve as we may, but her pain is just as permanent as ours would be. By quietly drawing the connection between “them” and “us”, Half the Sky manages to make these issues not just “women’s” issues or “3rd world” issues, but issues that impact us all.

While acknowledging that there are many topics they could have written about, the authors choose to focus on the struggle of women because, “…this kind of oppression feels transcendent – and so does the opportunity. We have seen that outsiders can truly make a difference.”

Why Half The Sky Is Revolutionary

Let’s face it – how many people want to hear about pre-teen girls being forced to work in brothels in Cambodia? Not many.

But how many of us would like to do something to help once we do learn about these things? A lot. And therein lies the heart of the book: Kristof and WuDunn have written Half the Sky as equal parts an informative current-events read as well as a practical “how to” guide for those looking to do something – anything – to help. There is even a handy “What you can do in the next 10 minutes” list at the end of the book for the extra-motivated or extra-time-crunched.

It is this that allows this book to ultimately be more hopeful than it is unsettling.  That said, I won’t mislead you: this book can be hard to stomach at times. The problems facing these women are overwhelming, and much of what Kristof and WuDunn strive for will take many years to come to fruition.

But what this book does more than many other books of its kind is draw YOU in: the person who wants to understand but fears they never will, the person who wants to make a difference but does not know how, the person who wants to help but doesn’t necessarily want to give up their day job to do so.

You can understand, make a difference, and help. Half the Sky will show you the way.

To find out more, visit: http://www.halftheskymovement.org/

Laura’s note: You can also read Christa’s post about the event we attended recently at The 92nd Street Y in New York City, featuring Kristof and WuDunn’s thoughts about Half The Sky, moderated by Dan Rather.

Tagged as: Book Reviews, Cultural Anthropology, Global Cultures, Half The Sky, Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn, Social Action, Stephanie Finigan, Women and Empowerment