Half The Sky

If the Half The Sky movie or book doesn't make you shut up and stop whining about your poor, poor life, nothing will. The statistics are overwhelming, so they bring out some real people to tell their stories. Stories about sex trafficking and maternal mortality. One in ten women in some countries die during childbirth. One in ten. Over 90% of the marriages in some countries occurred when the "bride" - usually a girl of ten or eleven was raped then forced to marry her assailant since nobody else ever would since she was no longer a virgin. When "half the sky" is marginalized, subjected to unheard of violence, unable to seek an education (literacy rates are 3% in some countries), the power of young men is doubled, leading to even more violence. We learned that, for instance, in Afghanistan, where the U.S. will spend billions and billions of dollars this year, a better way to move forward would be to educate the women and girls, start to build a civilized society. I realize that we have numerous problems here at home, sometimes the line at Starbucks is enough to push me over the edge, but after seeing the film to celebrate International Women's Day, I knew I needed to do something. I joined the Care organization my.care.org and one of my new responsibilities is to spread the word. These things need to change and if we don't do something, who will? It never occurred to me when I was growing up that I was less than equal to anybody else. The idea that I would be abused or neglected or treated unfairly without my family or my government protecting me was nonexistent. The option not to go to college was inconceivable. So, please, see the film, read the book (review http://www.nytimes.com/) (amazon.com), join Care care.org,. Do something. Spread the word.