Work in progress

“the women’s movement did not free us from every problem. It simply gave us the means – and the opportunity – to solve them. The key to a room of one’s own.” – Julia Gillard

Can I get an Amen?

I have never shied away from the lable ‘Feminist’. In fact I have proudly worn that particular badge since before I graduated primary school. I find nothing shameful ‘embarrassing or out of date’ in striving for equal rights for people regardless of gender.

A dreadful shiver crawls beneath my skin every time I hear someone say the work of the feminist movement is finished.

It’s not. Far from it.

To say so is selling ourself short. We risk losing momentum, disadvantaging our children (male and female) and devaluing the sacrifices of those brave women (and men) who championed the cause before us.

The question I am sitting with is this: what will our contribution be? We have the capacity, resources our foremothers couldn’t have imagined, but do we have the vision?

What world do we envision for our children? What are we willing to sacrifice to achieve it?

Unleashed women

I am a big fan of The Hunger Project Australia. They epitomise the hope I mentioned in my post last week.

THP (The Hunger Project) are unimaginably efficient. So much so that they leave many other agencies and NGOs in the dust. The key to their efficiency? They leverage women. They recognise that empowering a woman benefits a family and a community. They create powerhouse leaders of local women by giving them resources to help their local sisters. They enable women to do what we do best; communicate, network, support and serve.

Can you tell that THP makes me warm and fuzzy all over?

If you want a part of the warm and fuzzies too, go check out their Unleashed Women program. If that doesn’t fill you with hope, nothing will.

I am not alone

Today I was the 76,334th person to affirm the Charter for Compassion.

Compassion is at the very heart of my mission. Compassion, towards self and other, is in my opinion THE answer to the myriad of problems we face personally, locally and globally. If I raise 2 compassionate young men I will be contented, yet I hope to spread compassion well beyond my own family.

I encourage you to read the Charter. If you feel so moved, make your own commitment.

How will you bring more compassion to the world?

When you have nothing left to give

When I was two years old my mother would walk me through an inner-city park each morning on our way to day care and work. Wide eyed and open I absorbed the city the way a child does- I saw everything. Equally.

One day, after letting my hand go to fish some sultanas from her bag, my mother turned to me to discover I was no longer at her side. Ever the talkative and curious child, I had wandered to introduce myself to a new friend.

When my mother found me I was sitting on a homeless mans lap deep in conversation. Panic subsiding, as I was clearly unharmed, my mother removed me from my perch. She reached for her wallet to offer him money and he waved away her generosity. Instead he reached into his pocket, presenting to me his last dollar coin.

Being seen that day, really seen, was worth literally everything to a man who had nothing.

I saw a gentle old man who looked sad.
My mother saw a homeless stranger.
We both saw that listening is sometimes the greatest gift we can give.

The silver lining

The widely accepted (grim) reality according to Un.org and refugeesinternational.org is:

• women have not reached equality with men in any country, developed or developing.
• 80% of the worlds refugees are women and children.
• 70% of impoverished people are women.

The exciting truth is this – we have the power, resources and (I hope) the will to change it.

• Women control around 20 trillion dollars in spending globally.
• As a market, women have more clout than India and China combined

What this means to me is that if we collectively donate 0.1% of the money we wield we have a staggering 20 Billion dollars to help our struggling sisters.

That is an awful lot of zeros $20 000 000 000!

The remaining 99.9% of our money can have a positive impact too, if start to vote with our feet and demand more of the companies vying for a piece of our 20 trillion dollar pie. I’m thinking loans to female agricultural communities, scholarship funds & assurances of fair dealings with disadvantaged peoples. For a start.

Sources un.org, womensenterprise.ca, refugeesinternational.org, suitcaseentrepeneur.com

Father’s Day

I have an amazing husband who is a wonderful father. He was an integral part of the birth of both his sons (he calls it catcher), has probably changed as many nappies as me and has endured as many sleepless nights. This, although uncommon, is not to me the most interesting thing about him as a father.

What fascinates me is that he, and men like him, are restoring something lost to masculinity. They still embody the masculine essence of action, equanimity and industry yet they interact in a new (or very very old) way. Instead of leading with fear and aggression as dictators they lead by example as mentors with integrity and nurturing.

From what I can see (and only preliminary research) this is the first time since tribal days that fathers have had such a prominent role in the upbringing and instruction of our children. My hope is that it breeds resilient, compassionate men that wield their might and power to build others up as opposed to tear them down.

Am I sitting on a goldmine?

There is something about children (or is it my children) that attracts people and invites conversation. I have had more random conversations with lovely men as a young mother than I ever did when I was single. And for those that know me personally, no, I am not breastfeeding at the time. Though, that wouldn’t preclude a chat.

Yesterday, waiting for a girlfriend to meet us for a lunch date two fire engines pulled up to the curb. Three year old eyes beside me nearly popped out of of their sockets. The Fireman were off duty and as they passed us to get their lunch, most of then stopped to say ‘hello’. A few of them ushered us over to the engine for a tour.

Let’s not rehash the cliches about men in uniform, ‘manly men’ and firemen. Instead I will stick with the facts; they were cute. Some of them *cough* Fireman Scott & Fireman Rob were more than cute. Actually they were handsome, warm, funny, muscular and good with children.

So, I think I have found a new market. I should hire out my boys to single ladies who could play ‘Auntie’ for an afternoon in the hopes of meeting some nice guys. Seriously though, have you had any similar experiences?

Do you think young mothers are more approachable because they send out a “taken” vibe? Do you think men secretly miss playing games with little boys? Or is it something else entirely? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Women make smarter groups

MIT has finally got some research that mirrors what we have known for a long time; The collective intelligence of a group increases as the number of female members increase. To a point of course.

So MIT can show it. Harvard is interested in it. And millions of women world wide are thinking ‘You needed formal experiments and research grants for that?!? Have they never been a working bee or summer BBQ?’

Jokes aside, it is encouraging to know that it is becoming scientific fact that women’s voices are valuable. We now have a study to point to when we say the world will change for the better when we have a more democratic, female driven conversation.