It's a Girl..

The universe works in strange ways. My normal routine of leaving work past 5, walking to Phillip Street and taking a bus home to make dinner and go to bed with some casual reading. [Side Note: Never thought the day would come when I would have time for casual reading!] Instead I had a pleasant detour and joined my co-workers who had an extra ticket to a screening of It's A Girl, a documentary of gendercide hosted by the Sydney Chapter of UN Women Australia and Young UN Women Australia.

The documentary was beautiful there are no other words I could possibly choose to describe it. Primarily focused on gendercide in India and China, it provided windows into the homes of many different families who have struggled and persisted in their own ways. It touched on feticide and infanticide, preconceived notions deeply rooted culturally that have resulted in justifying the value of one gender over another. It made me think about many different topics: 

• What if the women in my life or myself--what would become of us if our society or families had devalued our existence? 
• How can you reach deep enough into a society in order for them to help themselves?
• How do you elicit empathy from men?
• What happens to the lives of the children that are alive but not saved? 
• What happens to all the people that left the screening tonight? Where does that momentum go?

There's so many moments like this, we have become so enlightened by all the we learn and the 'understanding' or 'insight' that we gain from being exposed to these documentaries and engaging in these discussions, but where do we go from there? College students go back to writing papers, catching up with readings and enjoying what's left of their time in Uni. Working people go back to their 9-5, comfortable living and daily routines and aside from visiting a website, signing a pledge and telling some friends about it- how many people actually are touched to the extent that this becomes their cause? I don't mean their cause via academia or lobbying within the developed world. The problem isn't currently happening in the developed world. The problem is happening in urban centers as well as rural areas of many countries. You can't create massive change, but we can commit ourselves to touching at least one or two other people and even teaching the next generation so that this isn't carried on far into the future. 

I was lucky to be born an American, but I'm blessed to have cultural understanding and the ability to listen rather than enforce. I'm grateful to my parents everyday for my upbringing, that I was always taught that I could accomplish anything and in a world that I encounter day in and day out. I always see more women than men. Women furthering their education,their careers, their families. I see it everywhere and usually it seems intimidating, but today it is empowering. 

I am empowered to be a woman and to be one that could make a difference no matter how small the impact.