Essay On Half The Sky Book Review

The book “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” authored by the wife and husband duo of Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn explores one of the greatest social evils that is ailing the modern society; oppression of women. The subject is not a new one, and in fact, the oppression of women is a subject that has been exposed to intensive research, and there is currently countless literature available on this subject. What sets this book aside is the way the authors approach the issue and the arguments that they make. Much on the literature on women oppression has focused on the dynamics of this oppression, the factors that facilitate it and ways of curbing it. Half a Sky touches on these issues briefly but then goes on to give details on how this social problem can be turned into an opportunity for the betterment of the status of women worldwide.
The book is non-conventional in that it does not consist of progressive chapters but rather comprises of a series of anecdotes and essays that are congruent with one another. The book can, in fact, be subdivided into two sections. The first part of the book addresses the problem head on and generally argues that women oppression which mainly occurs in developing nations is both a shocking and an under-recognized injustice. The authors argue that this is similar to slavery. Consequently, it demands the initiation of a political as well as moral movement that has the same principles and focus as the antislavery campaign in order to eradicate it. This is indeed a very bold statement by the authors of the book and that is without a doubt bound to elicit hot debate and perhaps criticism from some who may argue that the evil associated with slavery is not in the same measure as the one associated with women oppression. Nevertheless, it is a valid point that the authors go to extreme levels to explain and elaborate on.
In the second part of the book, the authors discuss some of the practical ways through which this movement against women oppression can be created in order to bring about the desired change.
The main importance of the book lies in the fact that in addition to just making an argument about the need for a movement against women that resembles the one for the abolishment of slavery, the book teaches a lot about feminists and feminist’s identities. It also teaches a lot about the roles of women in the modern society as well as the overall place of women in the society.
One of the things that emerge in this book is that women are still considered to be inferior to their male counterparts in the society. This is not simply something that is present in third world countries. Even in the developed nations, women have not yet been given equal status to men in the society. Although much progress has been made in developed nations and women have transcended some of the barriers that previously limited their success and achievement, there is still a lot of ground to be covered in terms of equality. There is much denial especially in developed nations that the over-rewarding of men in the society when compared to that of women can explain the centrality of men in almost all inner sanctums of the most powerful institutions in the society (McIntosh, 2012).
In addition, the rise of women in such societies is seen as a threat. For example, the fact that women are outpacing men in terms of undergraduate college education in a country such as America could see the wage gap between men and women reduce and even see women move into higher positions of power (Rosser, 2012). This might lead to the devaluing of the college education as it is the trend in other fields when women show even the smallest indication of dominating (Rosser, 2012).
The situation is much worse in third world countries where women continue to face many barriers that limit their success and achievement and that, therefore, leave them dependent on their male counterparts. This is primarily the reason why oppression against women is high in developing and third world countries.
The book adopts a feminists approach to some of the contemporary problems facing the modem day woman and, in fact, seems to ask more of the already existing feminists in terms of aiding their fellow women. One of the subjects that has been extensively discussed in this book relates to women rape where is shown that the prevalence of women rape is very high in developing communities and sometimes, cases of rape go unpunished. Women who have undergone rape are in fact stigmatized by the ordeal that many incidences go unreported (Shaw & Lee, 2012). A rape culture is particularly very prevalent in countries experiencing the after effects of war (Gettleman, Kristoff, & Roy, 2012). This is where the authors call for action by feminists. Feminists are people who passionately campaign for issues relating to women and equal rights and they do so by providing evidence and facts about the benefits of empowering women as well as the disadvantages that arise when women are oppressed.
According to the authors of the book, immediate action in the format of the antislavery movement is needed. The authors then go on to show how and why a feminist movement modelled on the slavery movement would work. Here the authors give a vivid example of the antislavery movement in Britain and the reason for its success in convincing the British Parliament to abolish slavery and the slave trade in spite of the enormous profits that it brought to the crown. According to the authors of the book, the reason was because of how the abolitionists conducted and presented their case. They not only persistently pressed the matter to lawmakers and authorities, but they also documented it meticulously. They neither overstated nor exaggerated their claim. They simply presented facts in a rational manner and in such a way any man or woman who professed to have a conscience would be obliged to look and indeed see that this was an issue that needed immediate addressing. The authors’ propose a similar movement, one that is based on rationality and presentation of facts in a meticulous manner that is bound to attract the attention of every person in the world who has a conscience.
The book is very consistent with some of the themes that have been described in class. One of these themes is the exploitation of women by men for profit. In the second chapter of the book, the author explores the case of tow Cambodian women who are prostitutes and who are run by pimps. The two women have been exploited by their pimps and receive very little and sometimes even nothing from their earnings. In addition, they are often sexually violated by the pimps who in the first place claim to be there to protect them. In an attempt to help the two women, Kristof and WuDunn buy the woman from these pimps and set them up with alternative means of making a living. The two, however, fail to make decent follow up because sooner or later, one of the women returns to the brothels where she used to work because she is addicted to meth.
The other theme that has been discussed in class and that is brought out in this book relates to the progressive oppression of women in their countries. Normally, oppression is sometimes viewed as one-time act, for example, a woman may be sexually abused by a man or be may be denied a work opportunity. However, it emerges that there some places where women are progressive oppressed for almost all their entire lives. The abuse and oppression begins with parents. This aspect is brilliantly told through the tale of Mahabouba Muhammad, who is from Ethiopia. Her parents abandoned her when she was young, and she was soon married off by her neighbor for money. She then found herself a prisoner whereby the man who had married her progressively raped her and the first wife beat her occasionally. This was all before she was a mature woman. She eventually had to run away when she became pregnant, but none of her relatives were willing to offer her any assistance. She was left alone during birth time, and she unfortunately suffered from obstructed labor where the baby passed away while still inside her. He experience left her unable to walk, and he relatives cast her off arguing that she was cursed. Her willingness to live and the help of missionary are what kept her alive.
One if the weaknesses that can perhaps be pointed to book is that it does not offer a deep analysis of the various complex factors that lead or contribute to the observed high levels of gender-based discrimination. The authors simply give tales about women without really going into the special fabrics of the society or the set of factors that contribute towards this. This is therefore quite frustrating for anyone who wants to understand the interplay of the complex factors that lead to gender-based discrimination, particularly the oppression of women.
Nevertheless, the book is very educative and proposes a model for ending women oppression that is very viable. Adopting an approach modelled on the antislavery movement could prove vital in the fight against women oppression across the world.

References

Gettleman, J., Kristoff, N. D., & Roy, N. S. (2012). Rape and War: Three Essays on a Theme. In Women's Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kristof, N. D., & WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
McIntosh, P. (2012). White Privilege and Male Privilege. In Women's voices, feminist visions: Classic and contemporary readings. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Rosser, P. (2012). Too Many Women in College. In Women's voices, feminist visions: Classic and contemporary readings. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Shaw, S. M., & Lee, J. (2012). Activism, Change, and Feminist Futures ; The Promise of Feminist Education. In Women's voices, feminist visions: Classic and contemporary readings. New York: McGraw-Hill.