Minorandom #5: Women's Day!

So today is International Women's Day.
I started writing this at approximately 11pm, one hour left to savour the day.

But let's make the best of it =)

I would like to take the time to reflect on how blessed I am that I live in a place where women are more respecred than they are elsewhere in the world. Not fully. But better to live as a woman here than in Congo, for example.

I was at home and flipping through channels when I saw Oprah's take on women's day. She had guest speakers who were promoting their book: Half the Sky by Kristoff and WuDunn. They didn't really focus too much on the contents of the book during the show, but from what I can gather, it's about women all over the world; their painful experiences and their success stories.

To those women, I can only imagine what they have been through in life. I cried watching Hotel Rwanda. I cringed watching Born into Brothels. It depressed me to watch things like Aftermath: Remnants of War. But there ARE people, women, out there who are going through it day by day. And I have the choice to cry and forget all about it. I can leave it behind and think of it as a Motion Picture. A damned good one. But just a story nonetheless. But for some, it's their reality.

There are those out there that are sometimes focusing too hard on SURVIVING that they forget to DREAM.

Yes. Forget to dream.

Back to Half the Sky, it is not only a book but also a movement called the Half the Sky Movement. Their focus is to educate and empower women and girls all over the world.

Bacause they believe that women can make a difference. Economically. Which will make a difference holistically.

And because they believe that some women are wiser than many men are out there.

And I second that.

Think about it:

1.In many universities across the world, the female population exceed that of men (I have heard of this since I was but a secondary school student. So don't shoot me if I'm wrong. I will find references upon request. Yes I shall.).

2. Women have also been known to start some of the most extraordinary movements the world has ever known, among them the Chipko Movement, which gave rise to the term "Treehugger", becoming the catalyst for awareness on the effects of industrialisation on the world.

Yes. Powerful.

I believe it is wiser to invest in women. Yes I do. The probability of women to spend money on things like firearms or excessive gambling is considerably smaller than men, in my opinion. Instead, depending on the situation of course, we'd spend it on more useful things: nailpolish, clothes, shoes, makeup...

I jest.

Let's not look at the places where even basic needs are sometimes not met. Let's look into my particular demography. A developing city:
Women with money would probably buy things to make her house look nicer. Or clothes. Or shoes. Et cetera. For herself. For her husband/boyfriend/significant other. For her children. For her nieces/nephews.
Men with money would probably buy things like car magazines. Or a new "needed" gadget. Like an ipod. Or modify their cars. Or buy a Nintendo wii.

Is it wiser to give money to men/women, then?

My vote would be on women. Because at least the things we buy are functional *in varying degrees*. And we think of others. Especially if we have children.

But yes, no fact should be presented without proof. I hope researches will be done on this area.

I also believe that women have an inborn mechanism, instinct if you will, to not act violently unless the situation warrants it. It might also be due to societal expectations (i.e. women are nurturers while men are breadwinners, etc). But based on personal experience, I think that yes women are more prone to cat-fights, but they are also less likely to settle things with a fist to the face. Maybe more hair-pulling, but definitely less fists.

But all this bullcrapping about women and what they can do will not amount to anything unless something is done to help them jumpstart their lives. And this is why there are organisations out there which thrive to provide that opportunity.

I salute them. Being so selfless and giving your life to people you don't even know, all to help shape a bigger, better future. I applaud all non-profit organisations that are fighting for a good cause. Any cause. Not only women's plights. May the rule of Karma be true and you be blessed.

For more information on how we little people can help these women, here are a few links *thanks to Oprah*:

http://www.halftheskymovement.org/

http://www.oprah.com/packages/for-all-women-registry.html

So for my personal pleasure, I'd like to pay tribute to some of the women that have and I hope will always, inspire me:

Oprah Winfrey: Because of the things she's exposed the world to.

Queen Rania of Jordan: Because of her efforts on trying to set the record straight about the Arab World

Lisa Ray: Because of her stigma-breaking films and willpower to live and blog about her battle against Multiple Myeloma

Anastasia: Because she was one of the most beautiful little girls in the world, who failed to grow up to be the woman people around her knew she would have grown into.

And last but not least:

Iman Azman. You will be great one day, and when that happens, don’t forget that I have always believed in you=)