Out of all the books I’ve read in my life, Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn is the one that had the most significant impact on my life; the one that made me question my future, the one that influenced me to take action. For those unfamiliar, Half the Sky is a nonfiction book focused on exposing the enormous gender inequalities in the world. The book focuses on rape, prostitution, maternal mortality, education, and so much more. Each portion of the book sheds light on a different part of the world, ranging from Asia to Africa and America.
The book tells the personal stories and traumas that women around the globe have experienced, such as the life of a forced sex worker and the experience of a rape victim. It brings the humanity back to what is often described with large numbers. When government officials and the media talk about painful issues, like the high prevalence of rape, rather than talking about one victim’s story, they often talk about the rates of rape. More often than not, if the numbers show the rates are going down, it is deemed not a priority. What Half the Sky does is use personal stories to make people do something about these issues that don’t get the attention they deserve.
Before you say, “why would I want to read a horribly depressing book about the tragedies women face worldwide?”, understand that there is much more to it. After presenting an issue such as the struggles little girls face growing up in the middle east, it then focuses on amazing people who are trying to promote change. They talked about schools being opened, volunteer hospital workers moving to Africa to combat maternal mortality, and American high schools sponsoring children halfway across the world. While there may seem to be a lot of evil in the world, there is also a whole lot of good.
The point of the book is to get the reader to join in the movement, to volunteer with one of the organizations they profiled, to start thinking about how they can play a role in ending gender inequality. They even end the book by telling you simple steps you can immediately take to feel less helpless or hopeless, followed by an appendix with a plethora of information on different organizations that support women.. Instead of feeling like the world is extremely unjust and there’s nothing one person can do to change that, Half the Sky empowers readers of all backgrounds and parts of the world to get involved with organizations that already exist to make the world more just.
I talk about Half the Sky not because it came out recently or because I just read it. It was published in 2009 and I read it two years ago. I bring it up because I think it has extreme relevance now due to the Trump administration’s countless attacks against women. It seems as though we are moving in the opposite direction, with the government taking away women’s access to abortions globally. Author of Half the Sky and New York Times journalist, Nicholas Kristof, wrote a disturbing yet accurate column on “Trump’s War on Women”
So for those who haven’t read Half the Sky, I urge you to do so. Now more than ever is the time to read it and begin to understand the heinous and unjust conditions in which some women go through life. In the wake of new policies that are taking away women’s rights headed by a president who promoted sexual assault, this book will give you urgency to take part in the fight. It will also give you a sense of hope. There really are so many things we can do, even under an administration that makes it seem like all we can do is sit back and watch in horror. It’s time to take action. It begins with a book.