Balance is urgently needed at this time on the planet, and many feel it is the feminine principle that will help restore it. Women have been making major strides since the feminist movement started in the 60’s. We have placed ourselves more and more into influential positions allowing us to make a difference in our world……We are bringing a healing balm to the collective.
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Women have had to navigate the masculine model within the business and political arenas for many years now. We find ourselves poised to bring the feminine principle even more into our malnourished, out of balance world. The world aches for us to step up now. The following page is a tribute to those who are answering the call. This includes those who are insuring that the long standing paradigm of violence against women is halted.
Isabel Allende
This is a not to miss, powerful talk about the state of our world. Author and activist Isabel Allende discusses women, creativity, the definition of feminism — and, of course, passion.
FEMME: Women Healing the World- A Movie
“FEMME is an inspirational voyage about women around the world who are actively transforming and healing global society of a daily basis.Influential women discuss religion, science, history, politics and entertainment – and the solutions to the multiple crisis we face throughout the world. FEMME focuses on utilizing a feminine approach with nurturing energy to inspire a new hope for the future.”
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Inspiring contributions of women around the planet:
Current Women World Leaders: See how women are taking on the highest leadership roles around the globe: Norwy, Germany, Denmark, South Kora, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Chile, South Africa, Liberia, Bangladesh……..
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Women Who Have Changed the World: (570 BC to Present)
A list of famous influential women. Click on their names to get a more detailed description. You will find women’s rights activists, female poets, musicians, politicians, humanitarians, scientists and more.
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150 Fearless, Trailblazing Women
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125 Women Who Changed Our World
“Some made music, some made noise, all made a difference. We celebrate 125 women who, during the past 125 years, broke records, broke ground, blazed trails, and suffered trials, shattering ceilings of glass and even tougher stuff. While some are obvious choices and some obscure, all acted to increase our liberty, safety, and prosperity. We honor these matron saints whose work continues to bring pleasure, save lives, and widen the scope of little girls’ dreams.”
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Transforming Women’s Issues
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The Impact of Media on Women
Beauty and the Beast
Anorexia, Bulemia, Chronic dieting, low self esteem…..sapping precious energy that could be used for creative pursuits. What are the underlying issues and how are we transforming them? U.S advertisers spent $235.6 billion in 2009. 80% of the countries in the world have GDP’s less than that. (1)
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The Illusory Nature of Media and its Impact on Women
Jean Kilborne addresses the fact that almost 100% of images you see of models and celebrities are altered. What are the implications of this deceit? What impact has this had on women in our culture?
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Statistics (1)
53% of 13-year-old girls are unhappy with their bodies. That number increases to 78% by age 17.
65% of US women and girls report disordered eating behaviors.
Depression in women has doubled since 1970
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Violence Against Women
Statistics: (2)
1 in 4 women are abused by a partner in their lifetime.
Every 9 seconds a woman is battered in the US.
Domestic Violence happens in 60% of marriages.
There are more shelters for animals than women.
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More Statistics
A pandemic in diverse forms.
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Taking Action
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One Billion Rising
On 14 February 2013, one billion people in 207 countries rose and danced to demand an end to violence against women and girls. On 14 February 2014, they escalated their efforts……..”We need to tell a new story. It needs to be our story. It needs to be outrageous.”
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Female Genital Mutilation
Female genital mutilation is defined by (WHO) as “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.”FGM is practised in 27 countries in sub-Saharan and Northeast Africa, and to a lesser extent in Asia, the Middle East. According to UNICEF, the top rates are in Somalia (with 98 percent of women affected), Guinea (96 percent), Djibouti (93 percent), Egypt (91 percent). Around 125 million women and girls in Africa and the Middle East have undergone FGM. It is typically carried out, with or without anaesthesia, by a traditional circumciser using a knife or razor.
The age of the girls varies from weeks after birth to puberty.The practice involves one or more of several procedures. They include removal of all or part of the clitoris and clitoral hood; all or part of the clitoris and inner labia; and in its most severe form (infibulation) all or part of the inner and outer labia and the closure of the vagina. The health effects depend on the procedure but can include recurrent infections, chronic pain, cysts, an inability to get pregnant, complications during childbirth and fatal bleeding. The practice is an ethnic marker, rooted in gender inequality, ideas about purity, modesty and aesthetics, and attempts to control women’s sexuality. FGM has been outlawed in most of the countries in which it occurs, but the laws are poorly enforced. There has been an international effort since the 1970s to eradicate the practice and in 2012 the United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously to take all necessary steps to end it: (1)
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Changing the Rape Culture
Statistics (3)
15% of rape survivors are under the age of 12.
1 in 4 girls experience teen dating violence.
1 in 6 women are survivors of rape or attempted rape.
“Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture. Rape culture is perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women’s rights and safety.” (3)
“Rape Culture affects every woman. The rape of one woman is a degradation, terror, and limitation to all women. Most women and girls limit their behavior because of the existence of rape. Most women and girls live in fear of rape. Men, in general, do not. That’s how rape functions as a powerful means by which the whole female population is held in a subordinate position to the whole male population, even though many men don’t rape, and many women are never victims of rape.”
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Feminists Take to Twitter
Increasingly, feminist activists are using the social media tools as their disposal to have broader conversations about gender-based violence and victim-blaming.
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Changing Paradigms
Dove®: “ has created self-esteem- building, educational programs and activities that encourage, inspire and motivate girls around the world. Dove® has reached over 7 million girls so far with these programs, and set a global goal of reaching 15 million girls by 2015. In 2011, Dove® released the findings of its largest global study to date on women’s relationship with beauty—The Real Truth About Beauty: Revisited. The study revealed that only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful, and that anxiety about looks begins at an early age. In a study of over 1,200 10-to-17-year-olds, a majority of girls, 72%, said they felt tremendous pressure to be beautiful. The study also found that only 11% of girls around the world feel comfortable using the word beautiful to describe their looks, showing that there is a universal increase in beauty pressure and a decrease in girls’ confidence as they grow older. Though Dove® efforts have moved the needle in a positive direction, there is more to be done”
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The Representation Project
…. is a movement that uses film and media content to expose injustices created by gender stereotypes and to shift people’s consciousness towards change.
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The movie
Miss Representation uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see. The film exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media.Stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists and academics, like Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson and Gloria Steinem build momentum as Miss Representation accumulates startling facts and statistics that will leave the audience shaken and armed with a new perspective.
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Older Ladies
Empowering art that matters through laughter, joy, and heart.
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Want To Take Action?
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Please send your stories about women that are making a difference on the planet!
