Professional Documents
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Accelerating Equality for Women and Girls around the World
A Conversation with Media, Activists, Entrepreneurs, and You
You can feel the excitement build for the kristof/wudunn panel #womenslives
http://post.ly/E38Y 10:00 AM Dec 3rd
We're ready to livetweet the Kristof/WuDunn/Drayton event! #womenslives
http://post.ly/E3A7 10:05 AM Dec 3rd
Pat Mitchell, head of Paley Media Center, up introducing the panel. #womenslives
#womenslives 10:17 AM Dec 3rd
1st question: What was it like to be on Oprah? #womenslives 10:21 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: Most struck at Oprah by the impact of being on the show #womenslives 10:21 AM
Dec 3rd
Kristof: Other shows were informative. But Orpah has an emotional bond with her that
galvanizes her audience to engage w issues #womenslives 10:23 AM Dec 3rd
WuDunn: After the show, a security guard said it was the first time he was touched by
tears. #womenslives
Q2: What is the connection between women here and other places? #womenslives
Tania: The collective experience cuts across distance. #womenslives 10:27 AM Dec 3rd
Q: Is the issue just too big? How do you respond? #womenslives 10:28 AM Dec 3
Drayton: The rate of change in the world is logarithmic. We are accelerating now.
#womenslives 10:29 AM Dec 3rd
Drayton: The question is how can we empower people w/ empathy to make change? Let's
raise more changemakers among our youth #womenslives 10:30 AM Dec 3rd
Q: What does equality mean? #womenslives 10:31 AM Dec 3rd
Langer: all women have access to high quality services. All women can make their own
decisions about reproductive health. #womenslives 10:32 AM Dec 3rd
Q: How do you react when you hear women are merely vessels, people who just do things
for others? #womenslives 10:35 AM Dec 3r
Kristof: Part of the tragedies we found in the book happened because the women didn't
matter to anyone else. #womenslives
Follow us on Twitter @changemakers. An Ashoka’s Changemakers project.
Kristof: Across the issues, most victimized girls were of low status. But as they get more
status/income they are more valued #womenslives
Kristof: During WWI more women died in childbirth than men died in war. When women
got voting rights, women deaths decreased. #womenslives 10:38 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: The thought is that women were suddenly valued more. That is the challenge: give
them more value #womenslives 10:38 AM Dec 3rd
WuDunn: Historical roots are that men were stronger in the field #womenslives
http://post.ly/E3Kv 10:42 AM Dec 3rd
TB: We need synergies at the grassroots level. We also need the accountability of
governments. #womenslives 10:43 AM Dec 3rd
TB: How do you work bottom up and top down? How do we change laws? How do we
change the system? #womenslives 10:43 AM Dec 3rd
TB: Call patriarchy for what it is. Urge governments to make change. Pursue equality.
#womenslives 10:44 AM Dec 3rd
TB: Obama has taken important steps. But he also had a brilliant speech on Afghanistan
without one word about women. #womenslives 10:45 AM Dec 3rd
TB: My hope for Obama would be for him to incorporate women into the conversation of
social movement and growth. #womenslives 10:47 AM Dec 3rd
Panel in action #womenslives http://post.ly/E3LH 10:48 AM Dec 3rd
Drayton: To be powerful, you have to be powerful. #womenslives 10:48 AM Dec 3rd
Drayton: If every young girl and woman masters the social skills, so when they hit 21 they
are powerful, the rest follows #womenslives 10:50 AM Dec 3rd
Q to audience: How many can say that you understood your power by 21? #womenslives
10:51 AM Dec 3rd
Q to audience: How many can say that you understood your power by 35+? #womenslives
10:51 AM Dec 3rd
Q to audience: How many can say that you understood your power by 45+? #womenslives
10:51 AM Dec 3rd
The bulk of the audience raises their hands by 35+ #womenslives 10:52 AM Dec 3rd
WuDunn: It's not just powerful. It's the Can Do mentality. At what age did you think you
could do something? #womenslives 10:52 AM Dec 3rd
Langer: We often see men as the problem‐‐but they are also part of the solution. Let's not
always think about women v. men #womenslives 10:53 AM Dec 3rd
Follow us on Twitter @changemakers. An Ashoka’s Changemakers project.
Langer: As part of the movement, we should make some room for men, too. (audience
applause) #womenslives 10:54 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: We now see changemakers who chip away at the problem at one particular place.
Increasingly I am a believer in this #womenslives 10:57 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: Changemakers can tip the balance remarkably quickly by solving a part of the
whole. #womenslives 10:57 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: At the Times, columnists have remarkable freedom to pursue their interests.
#womenslives 10:58 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: When a man writes about issues, men have a gravitas and credibility that comes
with it. #womenslives 10:59 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: So when a man writes about women's issues, that does give some credibility. It's
not just women about women. #womenslives 11:00 AM Dec 3rd
Drayton: Looking at the Gandhi movement and the womens movements, the moment the
press comes in is critical. #womenslives 11:00 AM Dec 3rd
Drayton: When there is a problem, people have a desire to know. They bring it to editors.
And there is an explosion of press. #womenslives 11:01 AM Dec 3rd
Drayton: We are entering an awareness tipping zone. #womenslives 11:02 AM Dec 3rd
Drayton: We are about to get a lot of attention. #halfthesky will be a really important book.
#womenslives 11:02 AM Dec 3rd
WuDunn: After covering Tiananmen, we saw 39,000 babies died in China every year‐yet
not one inch of coverage, though more death #womenslives 11:04 AM Dec 3rd
WuDunn: We need a tipping point, a trend, to bring this issue to the news. #womenslives
11:04 AM Dec 3rd
TB: Now we can talk about these issues. 20 years ago we couldn't even discuss genital
mutilation. #womenslives 11:05 AM Dec 3rd
Who's on stage? The panelists #womenslives http://post.ly/E3Rt 11:08 AM Dec 3rd
Langer: Most young women in the US today take abortion for granted. They don't realize
other countries do not legalize abortion #womenslives 11:09 AM Dec 3rd
Langer: A movement becomes powerful when it has a concrete and "simple" goal. Know
what you want and go after it. #womenslives 11:10 AM Dec 3rd
Langer: What makes me upset is the lack of media coverage. #womenslives 11:13 AM Dec
3rd
Follow us on Twitter @changemakers. An Ashoka’s Changemakers project.
Q: What do we need to do to make sure these issues get consistent coverage?
#womenslives 11:13 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: The news media aspire to play a larger role. We can be accountable when we cover
Tiger Woods instead of these issues. #womenslives 11:14 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: Media want ratings. But they do want to cover big important issues. Hold media
execs and journalists accountable #womenslives 11:15 AM Dec 3rd
WuDunn: Nonprofits should do more efforts. Do marketing campaigns. Give a story in a
form a journ can use. #womenslives 11:16 AM Dec 3rd
WuDunn: Think about how you can wage a campaign against the media. #womenslives
11:16 AM Dec 3rd
WuDunn: Leverage a network. Send a emails. Lobby. Work together in the field. Blast the
media. #womenslives 11:17 AM Dec 3rd
Drayton: Get the media by creating the movement and rising the key leaders, the
champions within. #womenslives 11:20 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: There has been a marked change among conservative evangelicals. Leaders have
done heroic work on these issues. #womenslives 11:22 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: More teamwork sometimes doesn't happen sometimes because there is suspicion
on both sides, liberal and conservative #womenslives 11:23 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: Both sides should try hard to work together. Abolition worked because it bridged
the spectrum. #womenslives 11:24 AM Dec 3rd
TB: It's the political interpretation of religion, not just religion. Systems have used religion
to oppress. #womenslives 11:25 AM Dec 3rd
If you want to make a change, please consider our competition around maternal health
http://is.gd/5bsWC #womenslives 11:32 AM Dec 3rd
WuDunn: The developing world within the developed world‐‐the invisible members of our
society. #womenslives 11:33 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: One problems w/ the way we cover a lot of humanitarian crises is we focus on the
terrible things and leave out hope #womenslives 11:35 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: People want to be part of something successful. People will participate if it will
make a different in a trajectory. #womenslives 11:36 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: How do you show all the horrible brutality and also show that change is possible?
We still struggle with this. #womenslives 11:37 AM Dec 3rd
Hinojosa: Make the people, and especially the women in our city, make them feel visible
and heard. #womenslives 11:40 AM Dec 3rd
Follow us on Twitter @changemakers. An Ashoka’s Changemakers project.
Hinojosa: I tell my 11yo daughter that she has power inside. It is a continual conversation.
Open the dialogue. #womenslives 11:43 AM Dec 3rd
Hinojosa: Girls and women must find other women mentors. #womenslives 11:44 AM Dec
3rd
Drayton: Give young people permission to give themselves power. #womenslives 11:45 AM
Dec 3rd
Kristof: The way to overcome global injustices is education. And the ones who get
education are the ones at the top. #womenslives 11:49 AM Dec 3rd
Kristof: Yet education is the single factor with the best record. #womenslives 11:49 AM Dec
3rd
RT @skrelnick: Dr. Langer: Promising changes from this obama admin for PEPFAR.
Abstinence only is out! Family planning back in! #womenlives 11:55 AM Dec 3rd
RT @skrelnick: Hinojosa: Make the women who work for you, clean your office, whatever,
visible by speaking to them and relating to them.
WuDunn: Soap operas are extremely effective. Those should be our campaign.
#womenslives
WuDunn: When you put TV in the home of villagers, its the equivalent of 5 yrs edu in six
months. They see role models. #womenslives
TB: We also have to destroy the negative media. We need a youth movement that
challenges the media structure #womenslives
Q: What can we learn from cultures other than the ones in which we were raised?
#womenslives
Kristof: #halfthesky was inspired by East Asia. It shaped the ideas about the opportunity.
#womenslives
WuDunn: It's just not education. Then you must bring women into the formal labor force.
#womenslives
Hinojosa: Any challenge I face does not compare to the ones faced by those women I met on
my travels. #womenslives
Hinojosa: Allow yourselves to be humbled. #womenslives
Last question: How can we feel empowered? What can we do? #womenslives
Drayton: The problems are big. But the actions are immediate. Can we help one young girl
be powerful? #womenslives
Follow us on Twitter @changemakers. An Ashoka’s Changemakers project.
TB: Wherever there are human rights violations, there are amazing individuals who fight it.
Individuals are powerful. #womenslives
TB: The tipping point is here. #womenslives
WuDunn: Tell five friends about this issue. Go to Halfthesky.org or Oprah's site and sponsor
a girl. #womenslives
Langer: Seize the opportunities. Sign up for EngenderHealth newsletter to see how to make
yourself heard. #womenslives
Langer: Support organizations that are doing work. #womenslives
Kristof: Get engaged, don't just write checks. Don't psych yourself out because the
problems are too big. #womenslives
Kristof tells the starfish story. :‐) #womenslives
Thanks so much everyone! Panel is o‐vah #womenslives http://post.ly/E3jR
If you enjoyed the panel tweets yesterday, keep following #womenslives. Let's make a
movement out of this and raise awareness for women.
Follow us on Twitter @changemakers. An Ashoka’s Changemakers project.