Resources for the Washington DC area

Book Review - If Women Ruled the World: How to Create the World We Want to Live In Edited by Sheila Ellison

If Women Ruled the World: How to Create the World We Want to Live In is a group of over 150 essays by women. Each easy finishes the sentence "If women ruled the world...".

The essay titles really speak for themselves as to just how different our world would be if this came to pass. Essays include:

Peace Would Begin with Me by Louise Diamond

We Would Cherish the Old as Well as the Young by Joyce Davidson

We Would Teach Our Children the Importance of Volunteering by Arianna Huffington

We’d Extend Care and Compassion to All Members of Our Community by Melody Ramos

Bullying in All Forms Would Be Unacceptable by Nicole Wines

We’d Value the Health of Our Children More Than Big Business by Denise Joseph

We’d Put a Compassionate Face on America by Medea Benjamin

We Would Portray Real Women in Advertisements by Dianna W. Allen

We’d Respect Alternative Healing Therapies by Jaala Spiro

We Would All Have Health Care by Jackie Regales

Baby Girls Would Always Be Cause to Celebrate by Grace Cirocco

Female Genital Mutilation Would Cease to Exist by Jennifer James

We Would Walk a Mile in Each Other’s Shoes by Mary Meng-Liang Ni

We’d Develop a Blueprint for Peace by Jane Evershed

 

It's really fascinating how many things we take for granted as "just the way things are" that would improve if these authors ideas came about. We see the frustrations experienced by a female athlete. We learn about the imbalance of power in the unique ways it exists in different countries. Unfortunately, these are voices that are all too seldom heard at the highest levels of power.

One great thing about these essays is that they are written by women who are passionate about a specific issue that we may not know about. We benefit from their knowledge and experience. Many essays include relevant resources if you want to learn more about the issue. Imagine if women with this passion made up the President's Cabinet; talk about progress!

This really is an extremely important book. We seem to be slipping into a hole with endless problems and a "war on terror" with no end. Maybe we need a different viewpoint. The more women's voices of reason are heard, and the the sooner women claim their share of  power in the political process, the sooner we will see "endless conflict" dissipate.

You can read the the complete list of essays and can learn more about the book at ifwomenruled.com.

about the editor:

Sheila Ellison is the author of several books including The Courage to be a Single Mother. She has appeared on Oprah! You can visit her website at:

 www.the CompleteMom.com.