If Women Ruled the World: How to Create the World We Want to Live In - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1930722362 ISBN 13: 9781930722361

Publisher: New World Library, 2004

Synopsis

Women are simply not represented in leadership positions in government or corporate America. Nor are we adequately represented on the airwaves or the Op-Ed pages of our top newspapers. If Women Ruled the World aspires to right the imbalance by giving women a platform to voice their opinions, priorities, hopes, and ideas for change.

The book includes over 200 short experiences, stories, thoughts or meditations written and shared by women around the world. Some will be first person accounts, others in interview or story form. Contributors are women of all ages, racial, economic and social backgrounds. Authors, celebrities, experts and politicians are included as well, creating a book that is a humorous, moving, questioning, take-action, opinionated, warm and informative as it examines the many ideas, solutions and directions women would choose if they had a chance to rule the world.

A portion of proceeds will be donated to The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) and The White House Project. FMF is a cutting edge organization dedicated to women's equality, reproductive health, and non-violence. The White House Project is an influential organization dedicated to advancing women's leadership by fostering the entry of women into positions of leadership, including the U.S. presidency.

About this title

About the Author

SHEILA ELLISON is the author of How Does She Do It? 101 Life Lessons from One Mother to Another, The Courage to Be a Single Mother, The Courage to Love Again, 365Ways to Raise Great Kids, 365 Days of Creative Play, 365 Games Babies Play, 365 Games Toddlers Play, 365 Afterschool Activities, and 365 Foods Kids Love to Eat.

She is the founder of the nonprofit organization Single Moms Connect, a parenting expert on radio shows across the nation, and a mother of four and stepmother of two. She has appeared on Oprah!, and her work has been featured in O: The Oprah Magazine, Parenting, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, Glamour, Self, the New York Daily News, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Oakland Tribune.

MARIE C. WILSON is founder and president of The White House Project, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing women’s leadership across sectors and fostering the entry of women into all positions of leadership, including the U.S.

From the Inside Flap

How can we support work and family balance, improve our health-care system, and protect the environment? What could be different in our schools and communities? How can women everywhere stand up for compassion, peace, and equality?

"If Women Ruled the World" shines the spotlight on women s opinions and ideas and suggests concrete calls-to-action, challenging women to be true participants in leading the world. With poignant personal essays from more than 150 women, this visionary book invites women to take on today s issues from the personal to the political0-0and asks that we all rise to the occasion to create a world of grace and humanity.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Foreword by Marie C. Wilson

Often in my work, I hear people say that the lack of women in leadership is an issue that pales next to world crises global terrorism, fragile economics, inadequate health care, access to quality education, corporate greed. They see no connection between the frightening situations we re in and the fact that few women sit at the table to determine the solutions. No wonder we re where we are today.

This fundamental imbalance, with men running the world and women mostly spectators (or victims), is not a trivial detail. It is the problem. It is also the one solution we have not tried and the one most likely to work. First of all, to counter those who think women actually do run the world, I offer a few statistics from my own backyard: The United States is 57th in the world in women s political representation (behind Slovakia and tied with Andorra); the pipeline to political leadership in America, the state legislatures, has been hovering at about 20 percent for a decade; men occupy 86 percent of Congressional seats, 84 percent of governorships, and 88 percent of the seats on top corporate boards. Yet women are more than half of the U.S. population. And the numbers get worse when we examine the diversity of women at the top, especially when you consider the enormous population growth in communities of color.

It is shocking and inspiring to hear how "developing" countries continue to rocket ahead of our pillar of democracy limited in financial resources, they certainly know how to use their human resources. Last year, The White House Project organized two major conferences where women from around the world tutored one another on how we might bring each other closer to democracy. It was energizing to consider the potential, and saddening to remember how many years and how many great leaders have passed without change.

One woman, a majestic member of the South African Parliament, upon hearing of our nation s failure to trust women with real power and authority, stood before the crowd and promised to stand by her sisters in America as we fight for our rightful place in control of our destiny. I could have cried. I think of her offer to help as I travel across the nation, promoting women in political and business leadership. I also remember the words of the women of France and India and Sweden and Switzerland democracy without women in power is not democracy at all.

But forget fairness for a moment. It s not that putting women in poweris simply the right thing to do it s the only thing to do. The values that women uniquely bring to the table empathy, inclusion across lines of authority, relational skills, community focus are vital if we are to solve any of the monumental issues facing our world today. This is not just me talking. Three decades of research in state legislatures, universities, and international public policy centers have proven beyond doubt that women, children, and men all benefit when women are in leadership. Broader societal legislation, benefiting everyone, is more likely to pass if women are in office. We know the power of women as peacemakers in the world from scores of stories about their effectiveness at negotiation, from South Africa to India to Pakistan to Ireland and beyond.

We can ill afford to use only half our talent, when we know for a fact that complicated challenges demand more than one vision. It s time for real and permanent power sharing, for real and permanent change women ruling side by side with men, allowing their voices to rise with different solutions and allowing men to think outside of the masculine box. In this way, we get fresh eyes and fresh solutions from both genders, applied to both old and abiding problems and to new and frightening ones.

This is not a call to pry power from the fingers of men and turn it all over to women. Together we can create a different world, shifting the burden from male shoulders and allowing the diversity of thought and life experience to transform our solutions perhaps bringing a greater peace, perhaps allowing men to be better fathers, perhaps providing a new paradigm for our security.

It s not easy to get there. Those in power rarely let go without a fight, even if they would benefit by doing so. For women to truly gain the leadership roles we deserve, we must be insistent and persistent. We must enlist our many male allies. We must step up to the plate, letting it be known that we are ready to lead, that in fact we demand it as a birthright. If we think creatively, if we use our community resources (a particular strength of women), if we support women who say they want to lead, if we use our voices and our votes to get there, we will sustain the transformation of power. And everyone will be better for it. Our daughters and sons and grandchildren will thank us, because their world will offer more options. We owe it to them. And to ourselves.

Edition details

• Publisher: New World Library
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1930722362
• ISBN 13: 9781930722361
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240
• Editor: Ellison Sheila