If Women Ruled the World - Sheila Ellison (ed.) - Part 1

If Women Ruled the World - Sheila Ellison (ed.)

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 108

  April 18, 2017 

Book 32 - If Women Ruled the World -
How to Create the World We Want to Live In
Sheila Ellison (ed.) (2004)
 Part 1 - pages 1-48
Reading Time - 45 minutes

This is another grab-it-off-the-library-bookshelf book. It looked interesting and readable. And, having finished Betty Friedan's monumental work, I figured something lighter might be a good change.

The book is a collection of stories, ideas and inspirations for change. Each one is a page or two long and covers a wide variety of topics. The editor arranged them so that they start with the self, and move outwards from there to family, community, nation, etc. Basically, there are a lot of issues in the world that might be solved if women helped run the world. There was an interesting quote - "democracy without women in power is not democracy at all".

The first section starts with the Self. The little stories are easily readable and focus on ideas like: be yourself, don't try so hard to fit in. Focus on the inside, rather than the outside. Peace begins with me. Concentrate on our strengths and stop giving our power away. In reading the stories, the editor suggests that we might not agree with all of them but to look and see: why don't we agree, what do we think would work better, how would we confront the issue. With the Self... I think a lot of it starts in childhood. Somewhere along the way, our girl children get sucked into the idea that they have to look a certain way or dress a certain way. Whether it's Barbie or Disney Princesses or Dora the Explorer... Why can't we just let kids be kids... I do have to say, I am grateful to my mom for letting me be me... for not forcing me to fit in. I wasn't a girlie girl... I wasn't part of the in-crowd... and I wouldn't trade that in for anything.