A Goddess isn't always enough

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A little rabble-rousing today because of this article by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn in The New York Times Magazine. Entitled, "The Women's Crusade," this essay notes the following:

• Between 70 and 100 million women are "missing" from the planet, which means that while, theoretically, longer life spans mean there should be more women than men in many countries, these demographics don't pan out. Why? In part, it is because girls and women are seen as less deserving of healthcare than boys and men. In India, girls between one and five have a 50% higher chance of dying than boys.
• Unknown millions of girls and women are slaves. Right now. Today. Often they live short lives of forced prostitution.
• In the developing world, maternal mortality is high. In Niger, one in seven women die in childbirth. In the U.S. it is one in 4,800. In Ireland it is one in 47,600.

I like to write about goddesses because I like to understand how my experience fits into a larger global perspective and I like to feel part of a historic continuum. But a goddess won't help the millions of women whose lives are impacted by gender inequality. Education will help. Economic independence will help. Microfinance will help.

Lifting up women lifts up us all. Not just philosophically, but practically. Kristof and WuDunn note that "male domination of a country is a risk factor" for terrorism (The speculation being "that when women are marginalized the nation takes on the testosterone-laden culture of a military camp or a high-school boys’ locker room.") Likewise, male domination hurts economic growth by marginalizing what Bill Gates has called "one-half of a country's talent."

You want to help the world? Educate a girl.