January Series - Half the Sky by Sheryl Wu Dunn

On Friday I went to the January Series lecture by Sheryl Wu Dunn in which she discussed some of what is covered in the book she and her husband wrote called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide and told some fascinating and tragic stories of women from around the world and the challenges they face.

In both her book and her lecture, she started off with a Chinese proverb that says “Women hold up half the sky.” Though men and women both make up about half the population, she told us that in many third world countries, there are more men than women because women are treated as being inferior, often receive less health care, etc., and therefore have shorter life expectancies. Throughout American history, women have often been treated as being inferior to men, even today that is still true to an extent, but in the countries where Wu Dunn and her husband travelled, this sexism is much more apparent. The “Empire” tells stories of men’s superiority and women’s inferiority, but that is not how it should be. Wu Dunn talked about how many people blame poor women for the problems in their countries, but she suggests a better story: women are the solution. She told us the inspiring stories of girls and women from developing nations around the world and how they have overcome their challenges and started giving back to their communities in wonderful ways. So much evil can come from sexism and discriminating against and thinking women to be inferior. This artifact revealed just how much evil this story can produce, but also revealed that there is hope. With the right nutrition, medical help, education, etc., women truly can make a difference in this world. In the Kingdom of God, men and women are equal in God’s eyes, and they should be treated the same. Unfortunately that is not the case in today’s Empire, but there is hope for redemption.

Discussion questions:

What can we do to help women here and in other countries?

What can we do to make change for the better and try to prevent/end these stories of sexism, abuse, and discrimination?

Half the Sky, Sheryl WuDunn

On Friday I attended the January Series lecture featuring Sheryl WuDunn, one of the co-authors of the influential book, Half the Sky. The book tells the stories of oppression, gender based violence, and health problems many women face around the world, especially in developing and war-torn countries. WuDunn along with her husband Nicholas Kristof wrote this book using their gifts of journalism to bring attention to issues that are not normally talked about such as sex trafficking, and maternal mortality. The goal of the lecture in addition to the book is to bring awareness to the general public about these issues and bring about a movement to change and fight against the injustice many women face just because they are female. If you would like more information about the book, or topics visit: http://www.halftheskymovement.org/blog/P20 or you can view the PBS series based off this book (trailer is above). When looking at this lecture as a cultural artifact, it is very easy to see that this movement is trying to say that both men and women have an equal human purpose, and therefore both genders should be treated with respect. Women should be allowed to have education, and good nutrition just like the men in their villages. This book also highlights how many times our culture, or cultural attitudes can produce evil if individuals do not discern for themselves. For example the culture in some of these countries such as India, or the Congo, women live in a very patriarchal society. When women are not viewed as equal by the culture that can lead to families even selling off their own daughters into sex trafficking when if the daughter had the chance to become educated she would most likely be able to bring in more income through using her gifts to sell homemade goods, or by creating her own business. If individuals do not stop to process the cultural pressures around them it can be very easy to begin to see evil as normal, or acceptable which is very dangerous. Half the Sky and Sheryl WuDunn however do not leave the audience in despair but provide hope. Through many different solutions such as micro-lending, fair trade businesses, education, and supporting various aid organizations it is possible to further God's Kingdom and fight against the "Empire" of cultural lies, and standards. WuDunn left the audience with a great quote, "We have all won the lottery of life ..with that comes great responsibility."After learning all this information I am left with two questions. What are some other ways that we can help as students? What are my gifts that I can use to address this issue?

The Truman Show

On Monday, January 7, we'll be watching The Truman Show in class. At 14 years old now, The Truman Show has aged well and still offers insightful commentary on our society, with the burgeoning of reality TV shows and surveillance culture.

Here's a link to a review by Drew Trotter for Ransom Fellowship. The film received excellent critical reviews at the time it came out, which attests to the power of its satire, but here's a great review from the Chicago Reader that is a bit harder on the film (in a really good way) as it explores what it means if we ourselves are part of Truman's audience. Is the world of Truman's audience even worthy of redemption?

Also, here's a link to an article from the New York Times Magazine that relates to The Truman Show in an interesting way by commenting on our feelings about the deaths of reality TV show stars. The article is from a series, called "These American Lives," that appeared in the magazine on the extraordinary lives of ordinary people who died in 2011. Students in the class should note that this article is required reading for Monday, January 7.

Finally, here's a trailer for The Truman Show: