Scan barcode
A review by clarebeth
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Sheryl WuDunn, Nicholas D. Kristof
Raising awareness of the abhorrent manifestations of gender inequality - sex slavery, rape, murder, barriers to education and medical care - is, of course, a Good Thing. I hope many people read this book, and others, and get furious about the injustice that stems from the undervaluing, objectification and oppression of women and girls. Elsewhere, the stories of women who have overcome unimaginable obstacles to fight the system from within are too often neglected in favour of celebrating the White Saviour (a few of those feature here, too). The book also highlights ways in which well-meaning but tone-deaf aid programs frequently fail to improve situations, or make things worse. The book argues for grassroots programs, lead and organised locally.
But I also hope that this book is read with a critical eye. The tone of the narrative has been criticised as paternalistic, othering, even sexist. There are definitely a few question marks in the margins of my copy.
The stories of women are prefaced with a brief description of their physical appearance: comments on their hair, weight, skin colour and make up. The stories of men are not (although, men do at least feature much less). I wasn't thrilled to read judgements about the beauty of the women and children, the sexiness of their clothes, or their resemblance to 'prom queens' or 'Middle Eastern princesses'. Nor did I enjoy the gushing descriptions of Americans - the words 'saint', 'hero' and 'guardian angel' are thrown around noticeably more for foreign aid workers, despite the book's advocation for local leadership. And while we're on the subject, they could have spent less time on their own heroics too (five pages are dedicated to a detailed description of Kristof and his cameraman donating money and blood to a women delivering in Cameroon. '"I'm A positive", Nick whispered'. Please. )
Secondly, the book fails to engage with any 'Western' contribution or complicity in the situations presented. In fact, the involvement of 'Western men' in sex trafficking is explicitly dismissed. In the opening chapter, the authors state: 'The West has its own gender problems. But discrimination in wealthy countries is often a matter of unequal pay or underfunded sports teams or unwanted touching from a boss'. Setting aside the outdated and inaccurate separation of the world into 'The West' (synonymous with 'rich') and 'developing countries' - this dismissal is not helpful and inaccurately paints America (the audience of the book) as a beacon of equality. This, even as they acknowledge that it is American attitudes to abortion that has a catastrophic impact on global aid, and that the sidelining of 'women's issues' results in harmful foreign policy choices.
In addition to generalisations of 'the West', there was considerable homogenisation of the entire continent of Africa. Praise is heaped on one particular hospital, located ONLY in the DRC, which is grandly named 'HEAL Africa'. Hard not to raise an eyebrow at that.
Oh, and it is PRO-CAPITALISM (bold and underlined).
Despite the caveats above, it is definitely a thought-prokoving call-to-action, which arms readers with the ammunition to go forth and argue for change. The bottom line is seeing how women are overcoming for themselves, and how foreign assistance can better support these battles from the bottom-up rather than just top-down - not 'holding the microphone at the front of the rally but writing the checks and holding the bags at the back'.
But I also hope that this book is read with a critical eye. The tone of the narrative has been criticised as paternalistic, othering, even sexist. There are definitely a few question marks in the margins of my copy.
The stories of women are prefaced with a brief description of their physical appearance: comments on their hair, weight, skin colour and make up. The stories of men are not (although, men do at least feature much less). I wasn't thrilled to read judgements about the beauty of the women and children, the sexiness of their clothes, or their resemblance to 'prom queens' or 'Middle Eastern princesses'. Nor did I enjoy the gushing descriptions of Americans - the words 'saint', 'hero' and 'guardian angel' are thrown around noticeably more for foreign aid workers, despite the book's advocation for local leadership. And while we're on the subject, they could have spent less time on their own heroics too (five pages are dedicated to a detailed description of Kristof and his cameraman donating money and blood to a women delivering in Cameroon. '"I'm A positive", Nick whispered'. Please. )
Secondly, the book fails to engage with any 'Western' contribution or complicity in the situations presented. In fact, the involvement of 'Western men' in sex trafficking is explicitly dismissed. In the opening chapter, the authors state: 'The West has its own gender problems. But discrimination in wealthy countries is often a matter of unequal pay or underfunded sports teams or unwanted touching from a boss'. Setting aside the outdated and inaccurate separation of the world into 'The West' (synonymous with 'rich') and 'developing countries' - this dismissal is not helpful and inaccurately paints America (the audience of the book) as a beacon of equality. This, even as they acknowledge that it is American attitudes to abortion that has a catastrophic impact on global aid, and that the sidelining of 'women's issues' results in harmful foreign policy choices.
In addition to generalisations of 'the West', there was considerable homogenisation of the entire continent of Africa. Praise is heaped on one particular hospital, located ONLY in the DRC, which is grandly named 'HEAL Africa'. Hard not to raise an eyebrow at that.
Oh, and it is PRO-CAPITALISM (bold and underlined).
Despite the caveats above, it is definitely a thought-prokoving call-to-action, which arms readers with the ammunition to go forth and argue for change. The bottom line is seeing how women are overcoming for themselves, and how foreign assistance can better support these battles from the bottom-up rather than just top-down - not 'holding the microphone at the front of the rally but writing the checks and holding the bags at the back'.