Category Archives: Gender equality

200 million girls “missing” – because they are girls

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Yesterday evening i stumbled upon this movie clip, shared on Facebook.

The movie clip is a trailer for a documentary called It’s a girl” – the three deadliest words in the world, which features the fact that 200 million girls are missing in world population – because they are girls.

In India, China and many other parts of the world today, girls are killed, aborted and abandoned simply because they are girls. The United Nations estimates as many as 200 million girls are missing in the world today because of this so-called “gendercide”.

Girls who survive infancy are often subject to neglect, and many grow up to face extreme violence and even death at the hands of their own husbands or other family members.

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The film tells the stories of abandoned and trafficked girls, of women who suffer extreme dowry-related violence, of brave mothers fighting to save their daughters’ lives, and of other mothers who would kill for a son. Global experts and grassroots activists put the stories in context and advocate different paths towards change, while collectively lamenting the lack of any truly effective action against this injustice.

I’d like to add that I’m all for abortion and women’s right to decide about their lives and bodies. (Imagine that same sentence, but exchange the word women for men…) But to abort girls – because they are girls – is genderside – and a part of the same structural problem, which makes abortion illegal in many countries.

After having seen this video clip I’m most grateful that all day today will be about social entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurial business models – my way of contributing to a better world. Without trying to make a difference I wouldn’t know what to do with myself!

Lots of love to all my sisters out there,

Evelina

To all fellow women social entrepreneurs!

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Chaska at Social Impact Award just sent me a tip to have a look at Girltank’s initiative 10 000 names in 100 days, which aim at gathering the names of 10 000 women social entrepreneurs and innovators in 100 days.

Read more about one of the initiators, Tara Roberts here.

Tara’s thoughts behind the initiative:

I began to wonder what would happen if [...] extraordinary young women from [...] diverse regions could pool their resources together and access a common collective of information and inspiration. Would their capabilities as leaders grow? Would their projects become stronger and more effective? Would they begin to work jointly and create even more powerful initiatives together?

The answers to these questions became Girltank.

So, dear fellow social entrepreneurs and innovators (under 30 – buhu!!) – sign up now! We need to improve our visibility. There seem to be nice prices as well! I have two questions though: What do they intend to do with all the names they gather? (Invite them to events, and their community?) And why have they used passport stamps in the graphic design? (What does that have to do with the topic?)

xo,

Evelina

The world changed the last 30 years. Time to get an update!?

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The other day rock star statistician Hans Rosling published a column in Dagens Nyheter (one of the biggest Swedish daily newspapers). Hans Rosling establishes, based on a recent poll, that the Swedes’ world view is based on what the world looked like 20-30 years ago. That’s very bad indeed. (Ping Swedish schools and media!)

Hans Rosling points out that nor is there a division between industrial countries on the one hand side, and developing countries on the other, neither is there an ongoing population explosion. The division isn’t valid anymore (it was valid in the 1960′s) since more than half of the world’s population live on middle-income countries. And the population explosion happened 20 years ago, nowadays population growth, globally seen is rather stable.

Hans Rosling also advocates that foreign aid should be redirected to reach the 2 billion  poorest in the world to secure a “healthy, knowledgable, and stable” population.


Hans Rosling’s initiative Gapminder is great for learning more about child nativity, population growth, literacy, life expectancy etc. 

Hans Rosling’s washing machine story is epic! Thank you washing machine for my, and many other women’s freedom! 

xo,

Evelina

Strong women and their (non-existing) supportive partners

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Snapshot from the movie Julie and Julia. This scene with Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci. Taller than most, indeed.

Last night I watched the movie Julie and Julia. The story is based on two separate true stories of two women who are passionate about cooking, and whom through cooking find their paths in life. One of the stories is a portrait of cookbook author and TV personality Julia Child’s journey from searching housewife to professional cook in the after war period.  The movie is partly based on Child’s autobiography My Life in France. The other is a contemporary story (2002-2003) of frustrated insure company employee Julia Powell who decides to cook all 524 (!) recipes from Child’s cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days (!!) and simultaneously blog about it.

I found the movie by coincidence at the local library, and I had not heard about it before. I decided to borrow it because I saw that it featured Meryl Streep. I love her! Also in this movie of course. She IS the movie. And I also have to say that I love Julia Child – taller than most, high pitch voice, great fun, ambitious and hard-working. If the movie is anything like the real Julia Child, she was truly a TV genius. The movie below, which I found on Youtube indicates that this may really be the case. She’s quicker than David Letterman… The real life Julia Powell also seem to be an interesting person (an author and a butcher!).

The movie is not super-duper great, or anything. I had a few laughs, and I was real hungry watching all that cooking. But one thing struck me – hard. The whole movie I was waiting for Julie’s and Julia’s respective men to leave them. But it didn’t happen. Oh! Such a great feeling! For ones a movie in which the men whole heartedly and compassionately support their women, also when the women claim their paths, follow their passion and eventually turn out very successful. There are so many movie and real examples of the opposite. Women as victims… Men leaving their women because they take up too much space in the relationship… Women leaving their men because they don’t allow them to pursue their passions… Never Bloody Ending Story.

I want more examples of movies portraying relationships of strong women and their supportive partners. It’s good for my self-confidence. For yours also perhaps?

And what about my own relationship, you may ask. So far, so good. It’s not always easy being the workaholic wife… probably not being the husband of a workaholic either. But we’re managing. It may sound like a cliché; to communicate, stick to your entrepreneurial goals and set goals together seem key.

But back to the movies now. Gimme gimme!


The real Julia Child on David Letterman show, 1987. I like this woman! :)

xo,

Evelina