Not long ago I met a woman, a single mom, who has 5-kids, all
girls, holy moly indeed. I'd say as a single mom, she's a hell of a role
model of perseverance and focus. That's pretty amazing isn't it, and
not the kind of work-load you'd want to condemn on your worst enemy. To
top it off, this superstar also runs her own business, I'm like OMG, she
is making us all look bad, your basic human dynamo you'd say.
Guess what she did with her almost all grown daughters? She took them to India, where they learned about how women in other parts of the world are treated, considered second class citizen almost, especially under the caste system there. What an eye-opener for sure.
She didn't take them to a Muslim Middle Eastern country as a group of Western Women traveling in that situation is, shall we say less than optimal, but I'd say her daughters got a world-class education in "how the other half lives" and how lucky they are to be "Born In the USA" as they say.
No, it's not perfect here, and the glass ceilings are coming down rather nicely, and here in the US we can stand on the moral high ground for that. Hopefully the rest of the world will follow. As much of a challenge as it can be for women in the US, especially in certain professions which are mostly dominated by men, imagine the tough time it would be if you were a woman in some other part of the world.
How about in Saudi Arabia for instance, but that's hardly the only place where life is tough on women. Maybe Sheryl Kara Sandberg is right, maybe it is time to lean in, and lean in hard.
As a competitive track star and runner, one thing my coaches used to tell me is that when you have nothing left, and your legs are toast, you must lean forward and drive with the arms, don't worry, your legs will follow, just lean forward, let gravity help, and drive the point home.
Maybe that's the message we need to tell our young women in the US, that nothing is impossible - tell them they can do it, and lean in against that headwind, let gravity help because the laws of physics are on your side, you can do anything you put your mind too, especially here in the USA where we have a more level playing field, one that is being rebalanced as we speak, now is the time - make it happen.
Guess what she did with her almost all grown daughters? She took them to India, where they learned about how women in other parts of the world are treated, considered second class citizen almost, especially under the caste system there. What an eye-opener for sure.
She didn't take them to a Muslim Middle Eastern country as a group of Western Women traveling in that situation is, shall we say less than optimal, but I'd say her daughters got a world-class education in "how the other half lives" and how lucky they are to be "Born In the USA" as they say.
No, it's not perfect here, and the glass ceilings are coming down rather nicely, and here in the US we can stand on the moral high ground for that. Hopefully the rest of the world will follow. As much of a challenge as it can be for women in the US, especially in certain professions which are mostly dominated by men, imagine the tough time it would be if you were a woman in some other part of the world.
How about in Saudi Arabia for instance, but that's hardly the only place where life is tough on women. Maybe Sheryl Kara Sandberg is right, maybe it is time to lean in, and lean in hard.
As a competitive track star and runner, one thing my coaches used to tell me is that when you have nothing left, and your legs are toast, you must lean forward and drive with the arms, don't worry, your legs will follow, just lean forward, let gravity help, and drive the point home.
Maybe that's the message we need to tell our young women in the US, that nothing is impossible - tell them they can do it, and lean in against that headwind, let gravity help because the laws of physics are on your side, you can do anything you put your mind too, especially here in the USA where we have a more level playing field, one that is being rebalanced as we speak, now is the time - make it happen.
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