Why Women Still Can't Have It All

The Atlantic Magazine published an interesting article in its July/August issue by former Director of Policy Planning at the State Department, Anne-Marie Slaughter, about women's work-life balance.

This article has created quite a stir on the inter webs. Ms. Slaughter's thesis is that there are two kinds of thought when it comes to women and work-life balance, hers and those of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Ms. Sandberg is of the "higher-harder-faster" school while Ms. Slaughter argues women should not have to apologize for giving up powerful jobs to spend more time with their family.

I have to admit as a woman with ambitious professional goals, I have always wondered where a family would fit into those goals. Even if a bit scary, it is refreshing to hear a woman speak candidly about "why women still can't have it all"even if I still want to believe the mantra "we can have it all."

Is Ms. Slaughter right, should the workplace adapt to the changing roles of men and women, or should women continue to apologize for leaving jobs and careers to spend time with their families?

Book of the Week

Any one who knows me knows I LOVE to read. I am typically reading two books at a time, a fun one and an "intellectual" one. I have to admit I am partial to girly, romance novels, but over the years those have slowly been replaced by what most people would consider literature.

Since I have read a lot of books, some good, some not, I have decided to have a book of the week. With that said, the honor of being the first book of the week is...

 Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

This might be one of my all time favorite books. I know it is a big statement, but this book has the perfect mix of romance, history and mystery. Set in Chicago during the years surrounding the 1893 World’s Fair, it follows the lives of Daniel Burnham, the architect who designed and build the Fair, and H.H. Holmes, a mysterious newcomer in search of work. Although the book has two fairly separate plots, I never felt disconnected from one when I was reading about the other. Larson does an incredibly job of weaving a well-written and vivid fictional plot into the bones of what could have been a boring history book. His writing transports you to the quickly expanding city of Chicago at the turn of the century. I felt as if I was part of the excited crowds at the Fair and part of the lives of Daniel Burnham and H.H. Holmes. 

For anyone who enjoys historical fiction splashed with some mystery and romance this book is for you.

You do what? Where?

To fulfill my first reason for this blog I should explain what I am doing. To those of you who don’t know or haven’t read the About Me section, I am currently pursuing my Master of Public Policy focusing on International Development and Gender. My program requires students to complete a 10-week internship, so I am in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia interning with UN Women.

UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, was created to address serious challenges in the UN’s efforts to promote gender quality globally. It strives to be a champion for women and girls, providing them with a powerful voice at the global, regional and local levels.

Gender is an interesting area of development. Gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society, including developed nations. Today most of the world’s women face huge barriers to equality, such as traditional views and attitudes, lack of access to basic education, health care, decent work and often face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps. Many women continue to suffer violence and discrimination, and women are continually under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes that could allow them to create change towards women.

My task this summer is to perform an assessment of the current status of women’s political participation and leadership in Ethiopia. I am working to assess not only the activities and results, but also the impact these initiatives have had. For example, if women were given scholarships to gain additional skills did that education result in better jobs. Or did a certain training result in increase enforcement of women’s rights.* Finally, I am trying to coordinating with other UN agencies to understand their current support of this issue and identify the gaps in support UN Women could potentially fill.

I am not going to lie; I feel a bit underprepared and a lot overwhelmed. But with that said, I am happy to be in an internship that allows me to gain practical experience, and develop a better understanding of development work. Not to mention I get to live in Africa for three months, BONUS!

Mom, I hope this helps you explain to your friends what I am actually doing.

*These examples are not real situations but fictitious situations from past experiences.

Why?

I am horrible at staying in touch. I think my family and friends can attest to just how horrible I really am.  In order to diminish the constant question, “You are doing what, where?” I have decided to give this blog thing a shot.

If you are family, a friend or just stumbled upon this blog do not hold the expectation of being monumentally moved, emotionally altered, entertained or enlightened because I will mostly definitely not be able to fill those expectations! But what I can guarantee (hopefully) is insight into my travels, adventures, and thoughts.

My hope is to blog about all those things you never remember to tell people, a passing thought, a funny story or a misadventure. I want to share all of those things, and anything else that strikes my fancy. If you have any suggestions let me know.

Here goes nothing…