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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
*4.5 stars rounded up* Amazing!! I had some great discussions with my husband about some female injustices that happen around the world and how we can balance our unpaid work (house work, errand running, child caring, etc.) better. Overall the book made me feel extremely blessed to have a husband who sees me as an equal and a job that supports me as an employee and a mother. As eye opening as it was to see how unfair life is to those in India and Africa, I wish that it talked more about empowering women in America because we have very different issues than those in third world countries.
Positive thinking about devastating issues. Well written and easy to read.
This is an inspiring, empowering, fantastic book about how lifting up women and euality for all doesn't just benefit women but also benefits children, families, and societies. Using her foundations' research and real life, inspiring, and heart breaking stories, Melinda shows the problems, what has been done about them, and just how far we, as a society, have to go.
Melinda calls for changing the way we think- being flexible and willing to change your mind on order to accomplish the goal: equality for all humans of every stripe. Let's change our world by recognizing the ways we are perpetuating inequalities in our personal lives, and get to the business of changing our minds and actions.
After reading this, I am even more greatful (as a female) to be born in the United States, but I have also realized we can't take what we have for granted. We can't just sit back; we have to keep moving forward. In many aspects that the United States should be leading in, we are falling behind other 1st world and 2nd world countries.
“Anyone can be made to feel like an outsider. It’s up to the people who have the power to exclude. Often it’s on the basis of race. Depending on a culture’s fears and biases, Jews can be treated as outsiders. Muslims can be treated as outsiders. Christians can be treated as outsiders. The poor are always outsiders. The sick are often outsiders. People with disabilities can be treated as outsiders. Members of the LGBTQ community can be treated as outsiders. Immigrants are almost always outsiders. And in most every society, women can be made to feel like outsiders—even in their own homes." -Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift
Melinda calls for changing the way we think- being flexible and willing to change your mind on order to accomplish the goal: equality for all humans of every stripe. Let's change our world by recognizing the ways we are perpetuating inequalities in our personal lives, and get to the business of changing our minds and actions.
After reading this, I am even more greatful (as a female) to be born in the United States, but I have also realized we can't take what we have for granted. We can't just sit back; we have to keep moving forward. In many aspects that the United States should be leading in, we are falling behind other 1st world and 2nd world countries.
“Anyone can be made to feel like an outsider. It’s up to the people who have the power to exclude. Often it’s on the basis of race. Depending on a culture’s fears and biases, Jews can be treated as outsiders. Muslims can be treated as outsiders. Christians can be treated as outsiders. The poor are always outsiders. The sick are often outsiders. People with disabilities can be treated as outsiders. Members of the LGBTQ community can be treated as outsiders. Immigrants are almost always outsiders. And in most every society, women can be made to feel like outsiders—even in their own homes." -Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift
hopeful
informative
inspiring
This is essentially an advertisement for the work the Gates Foundation does around the world with women and girls. Gates gives a voice to many women around the world who support hardships and highlights some of the key elements of progress that are most effective in empowering women and communities in poverty. Gates is emphatic that lifting women up around the world will also lift the communities around them. She uses some statistics to prove this point but they are light, as you would expect in a popular reading book.
My biggest problem with this book is the point-of-view of Gates. She toots her own horn quite a bit. For example, in one of the chapters, she talks about how she admittedly did a bad job when she worked at Microsoft allowing people to have family leave. Despite of this, she gives an anecdote of when she once succeeded at letting someone who worked for her see his sick brother. She apologizes for giving a positive anecdote for an enterprise she admittedly failed at but I don't forgive her.
I was personally distracted imagining Gates visiting all these poor communities in Africa as one of the wealthiest people in the world. To me, this is a fascinating contrast that I wanted to hear more about. How can you listen to and interact with people who have nothing, when you have so much? She acknowledges that she is rich and privileged. That is my problem. Rich and privileged is not the same as being one of the wealthiest human beings in the history of civilization. I was distracted and wanted to hear more about how she reconciles this. Granted, the book is about the women the foundation is helping but when it is filled with so many personal anecdotes, to me, this question begs answering.
This is the most important book I have read in a LONG time. If you haven't read it - do yourself a favor and read it NOW. The audio book is exceptional - Melinda Gates is a superior narrator.
Enjoyable insight into raising empowerment for women on a global scale. I thought Melinda's narration and storytelling was good, and the overall telling was not too long. I would have loved to hear more call to action in how we as individuals in western society can continue to inspire and raise women up.
I’d like a half star — 4.5 on this one. I enjoyed reading it and all the stories included in it.
Years ago, the research lab I worked in was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This always made me curious about the Foundation, what their purpose was, and how they chose to distribute their funding. I'm impressed by the focus on public health, especially in extremely impoverished areas, and the extensive research done to try to ensure the best use of the funding. And beyond how the Foundation works, this is a fascinating look at power dynamics in relationships, and how women's lives can be improved through empowerment.
informative
inspiring
slow-paced