A Woman's World

New York Times magazine takes a close look at the treatment of women and girls and their rights around the world. Take a look at the issue here.

Share your stories and pictures with the world!

Enter the Half the Sky Competition.

Or log on to nytimes.com to share your photos that best illustrate the importance of educating girls and empowering women.

Have You Felt Your Boobies Today?

When is the last time you felt your boobies?

Go ahead. Do it. Touch 'em.

The "Are you doing it?" annual campaign, is a simple reminder using unexpected and unconventional reminders - targeting women under 40 who are less likely to be concerned about breast cancer and breast health - to feel our boobies.

What exactly does unexpected mean? Well, it means you probably won’t see a “feel your boobies” brochure at the doctor’s office…but you sure as heck might pass the Boobies Bus® on the freeway, or you might be laying at the beach and see an airplane towing a banner with our logo or maybe a sticker on a light post and if you’re on Facebook, chances are you’ve seen our flair or badges floating around.

"Feel Your Boobies" may seem simply like a fun and provocative slogan, but it's really our way of asking “Are You Doing It?”® – well….are you?

For more information about the campaign, resources and founder/president/survivor, Leigh Hurst visit:

http://www.feelyourboobies.com/

Women Can Hold Up Half the Sky

Take a moment to learn more about journalist and op-ed New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and business woman and Pulitzer prize winner, Sheryl WuDunn's new book Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. It is imperative to not only look at the treatment of women worldwide, but to think about how to effect long-lasting change! Check out this recent article on Oprah.com; an excerpt from Half the Sky on 3 things you can do to empower women.

In Half the Sky, Kristof and WuDunn speak, for example, about their work with women who are trafficked for sex. Right here in Philadelphia, PA there are many ways to get involved working with women who are trafficked for sex, living in brothels and hoping to escape and recover. Organizations include Center for the Empowerment of Women and Girls, Dawn's Place and Soroptimist.

For more information about Half the Sky please listen here to the Amazon podcast or check out the book at your local book retailer or library. To get involved in the above mentioned organizations, please contact us at info@womenscollaborativecircle.org.

Human Rights

To learn more, please read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Stoning of Soraya M. - A Look at the Unapologetic Lack of Rights for Women Around the Globe

[warning: the following post contains graphic and disturbing content]

This is the true story of Soraya Manutchehri.

A 35 year-old Iranian woman and mother of 7 children, who in her own words states that she had become an "inconvenient wife."

She was married off at the age of 13 years-old to a man, Ghorban-Ali, 7 years her senior who was a local criminal. In this marriage she incurred regular beatings and emotional abuse.
According to senior Washington correspondent, Carl M. Cannon in his article on the politicsdaily.com website, "Ghorban-Ali showed himself to be more than a garden variety sociopath and town bully; he was a sadistic monster, and Islamic fundamentalism was his enabler, his aider, his abettor. In the anarchic days of the Iranian Revolution, Ghorban-Ali had found work as a prison guard in a neighboring town. There, he met a 14-year-old girl whom he wanted to marry. Polygamy was encouraged in Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran, but Ghorban-Ali didn't want to support two families, and did not desire to return his wife's dowry. How to rid himself of his "old" wife? That was the easy part. Accuse her of infidelity. No matter that her husband had not actually seen anything untoward, or that Soraya was completely innocent, or that her husband's cynical accusations were only backed up by his cousin, who as it turned out had been coerced into concurring with the vaguest of accusations: a smile here, a brushed hand there. What court of law would find someone guilty on such flimsy evidence? A "sharia" court is the answer. And so Soraya was convicted. The sentence was death-death by stoning."



Soraya's story was bravely told by her aunt, Zahra Khanum to Freidoune Sahebjam, a stranded French-Iranian journalist traveling through the remote region. In a desperate attempt for justice for her sister and women tortured through similar circumstances, Zahra tells her story to Freidoune with the hopes that he escapes and communicates the violence of women to the world.

Cannon continues to write, "the practice of stoning is not only characteristic of rural Iran, but continues in such regions such as "Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, or anyplace where sharia is the law of the land. More common, by far, in the Muslim world is the perverse practice of "honor killings" -- the slaying of a woman or girl by male members of her own family on the basis of some presumed sexual indiscretion."

To learn more about stoning, female executions and the human rights violation against women throughout the globe, please visit: stop-stoning.org.

Love to Buy Shoes?

Buy one for you and Toms Shoes will give one to a child in need!

Groovy.

Visit Toms Shoes here for more details.

Sing-A-Long with India.Arie

Video - India Arie Watch it here.

Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don't
Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won't
Depend on how the wind blows I might even paint my toes
It really just depends on whatever feels good in my soul

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie

When I look in the mirror and the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be
And I know my creator didn't make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my lips, my eyes; I'm lovin' what I see

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie

Am I less of a lady if I don't wear pantyhose?
My mama said a lady ain't what she wears but, what she knows
But, I've drawn a conclusion, it's all an illusion, confusion's the name of the
game
A misconception, a vast deception
Something's gotta change
Don't be offended this is all my opinion
ain't nothing that I'm sayin law
This is a true confession of a life learned lesson I was sent here to share with
y'all
So get in where you fit in go on and shine
Clear your mind, now's the time
Put your salt on the shelf
Go on and love yourself
'Cuz everything's gonna be all right

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I Learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie

Keep your fancy drinks and your expensive minks
I don't need that to have a good time
Keep your expensive car and your caviar
All I need is my guitar
Keep your Kristal and your pistol
I'd rather have a pretty piece of crystal
Don't need your silicon I prefer my own
What God gave me is just fine

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie

About: Social Entrepreneurship

Distinct from a business entrepreneur who sees value in the creation of new markets, the social entrepreneur aims for value in the form of transformational change that will benefit disadvantaged communities and ultimately society at large - skollfoundation.org.

Organizations like the Skoll Foundation which drives large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators are dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems. Social entrepreneurs are proven leaders whose approaches and solutions to social problems are helping to better the lives and circumstances of countless underserved or disadvantaged individuals. By identifying the people and programs already bringing positive changes to communities throughout the world, the Skoll Foundation empowers them to extend their reach, deepen their impact and fundamentally improve society.

Ann Cotton, who started the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) in 1993 [is an example of a social entrepreneur] whose simple goal was one of ensuring an education for young girls in Africa whose families cannot afford school fees. By establishing a sustainable model that provides community support for girls to go to school, start businesses and return to their communities as leaders, CAMFED has broken the cycle of poverty for hundreds of thousands of young women in Zimbabwe, Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania. Since 1993, 645, 400 children have benefited from Camfed’s education program across a network of 2,798 Schools. 5,132 young women have received business training and start-up grants to establish their own rural enterprises. 1,067 young women have been trained as community health activists; in 2008 alone, they reached 79, 998 children and young people with vital health information - skollfaoundation.org.

Other notable social entrepreneurs are Muhammed Yunus founder of the Grameen Bank and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient whose work can be found at the Grameen Bank website, and Florence Nightingale, founder of the first nursing school and developer of modern nursing practices.

What do you dream of doing?