Half the Sky - Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn

Half the Sky:
Turning Oppression into Opportunity
for Women Worldwide

Title: Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Author: Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn

Publication Date: 9/8/08

Pages: 294

Genre: Political / Nonfiction

How I Found It: Recommended by multiple people/sources

Date Completed: 2/8/15

Summary: "A passionate call to arms against our era's most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world." 

What I Thought: Where do I start? You must read this book. You must. I cannot recommend it strongly enough or coerce you shamelessly enough. It's not an easy read. Some parts, some realities are difficult to digest and make you want to look away. But Kristof and WuDunn are covering one of the most overlooked, yet most important issues of our time. 

The writing is not perfect and the book is not intended for scholarly research. Rather, it is meant to raise awareness to the atrocities being perpetrated against women around the world. Included in the discussion is sex slavery, maternal mortality, and economic disparities. Like I said, not easy topics, but so important.

For anyone who thinks this topic is overblown, just keep in mind that "it appears that more girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the wars of the twentieth century. More girls are killed in this routine 'gendercide' in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the 20th century." Let that soak in. How can we keep turning our back on this issue?

Quote I Loved: So many! Here are a few:

• "The tools to crush modern slavery exist, but the political will is lacking."
• [in support of girls' education] "Tormeting the illiterate is usually risk-free; preying on the educated is more perilous."
• "This is not a tidy world of tyrannical men and victimized women, but a messier realm of oppressive social customs adhered to by men and women alike."
• "The best role for Americans who want to help Muslim women isn't holding the microphone at the front of the rally but writing the checks and carrying the bags in the back."
• "Educating girls is one of the most effective ways to fight poverty."
• "Americans of faith should try as hard to save the lives of African women as the lives of [the] unborn." - Yikes! Doesn't that one hit home?!

Rating: ★★★★★

Will I Re-Read: Absolutely. This book went straight on my list to purchase. I'll be recommending it to everyone, too.

If You Liked This Try: I Am Malala / The Handmaid's Tale / A Year of Biblical Womanhood

A Reduced Review: An incredibly important book about global gender inequality and subjugation and the steps we can take to help change the world. 

I'm proud to remind you that this book is on my 2015 TBR Pile Challenge list.  I'm so excited I joined this challenge for the first time. I am enjoying having some structure to my TBR and the change to make intentional choices about what I read next. Make sure you check out the rest of my list and follow the challenge throughout the year.