Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Girl Rising - An Example of Why We Need International Women's Day

So International Women's Day was last week (March 8) and I really didn't give a thought to writing a post about it. I admit, I didn't know much about it and a lot of things I saw on Facebook ranged from "every day should be International Women's Day" to "when is International Men's Day?"

Here in the United States, we might not think there's a need for a "holiday" to recognize women. While women still make less money for the same work, and we unbelievably need to even have a Violence Against Women Act, American women in general have a voice. Here, women can be CEOs, run for President of the country, or do something really wild and crazy like get an education.

That's right. Get an education. In far more countries than we would like to believe, a girl's ability to go to school ranges from difficult to impossible. Over the weekend I read about a new film called Girl Rising, which tells the stories of 9 girls in 9 countries, including Nepal, Peru and Afghanistan (where at one time not that long ago, it was illegal for girls to go to school). Each story is adapted by a writer native to each country, and each story is narrated by actresses such as Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett and Kerry Washington.

I urge everyone to find out more about Girl Rising here. This is not a movie that you can just walk up and buy a ticket. Using a service called Gathr, screenings are set up but have to reach a minimum number of viewers for the screening to happen. If there aren't any in your area, you can request one and spread the word. In Columbus, I've signed up for the Monday, April 1st screening at 7:30 pm at Lennox (although if you look at the map, it looks like Dublin). If you're in the area, I hope you'll join me. And be prepared for Facebook posts and tweets about it.

UPDATE: Since I didn't get on this early enough, the April 1st showing was cancelled, but I'm now captain of a showing on Monday, April 22nd at 7:30 pm at Easton. Go here to reserve your tickets.



Stay Tuned,

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Linking up with Shanna

4 comments:

  1. I SO agree with getting an education! So glad Steph has a college degree & is so brilliant, too!
    Everyone's life is different and you have to do what you have to do.
    The childcare issue is SLOWLY changing, but too many men are still boys going out to play
    and the women are stuck with 99% of the childcare. It sucks to NAG and ask for "help" when it is not only your house or your child, etc. Now many women are the major wage earners, too.
    Proud of all of you girls!!!
    Love Steph's momma, Linda

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  2. The plight of women around the world is disgusting. Even in this country, think about the maternity leave compared to other countries. If men were birthing children, they wouldn't be penalized in their careers or asked to go back to work after 8 - 12 weeks.

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  3. I remember when I got my first degree, I did pretty badly my first year (as do many 18 year old's with newfound freedom) I can still hear my mom in my ear telling me how lucky I was to be able to go to college and what an opportunity I throwing away. In some ways, we are so lucky in this country. Think of Malala, who was targeted and gunned down by the Taliban for wanting to better herself. It's deplorable.

    Thank you for this post, really got me thinking today.

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