Half The Sky Book Review

In the book Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, the stories of multiple women and their internal struggles were foretold. Half the Sky discusses the following health topics; maternal mortality, rape, violence, honor killings, lack of education and health ethics that occur in many low income countries. In class, we have discussed many topics that were brought up in the book. Topics such as women’s health, cultural differences, vulnerable groups and the importance of proper health care. As someone who lives in the United States, I often forget the horrors and injustice of this world. And sometimes, I choose to ignore the problems because I figure it has no impact on my personal life. I realized that my ideals and beliefs …show more content…
The lack of schooling and lack of rural health systems are the biggest contributors to maternal mortality. The lack of schooling is a response to the gender inequality and keeping of the old traditions of holding men more sacred than women. However, often women are the ones upholding these stereotypes. Usually, the women are the ones managing brothels, feeding their sons before daughters and killing their daughters because they are not as important. In order to get rid of oppressing traditions is through good education. Women need to be educated and grasp the importance of receiving equal …show more content…
The topics are often ones that are more difficult to discuss but are necessary in order to gain broader knowledge about modern health issues. I enjoyed gaining a new perspective on female empowerment and the needs that we need to address in order for all people to receive fair treatment. On the other hand, I did not enjoy the innumerable, graphic details, but thought they were necessary to get the point across. The book was very informative, well written and scoped into critical health topics. I believe it is important to be well informed about health matters, education and inequality problems that exist all around the