Let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons.
One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.
One of the traits I love most about my daughter, is how much she loves books. Some of her love of reading is innate and some is by design. Before we brought her home, there was already a bookshelf, filled with books, waiting for a little girl to discover them. I love books. Instilling that love in my daughter was one of my top priorities as a mom. I believe the written word is powerful.
When I was growing up, reading was my favorite past time. I loved curling up with my book and escaping into the words and worlds I found inside. Writing this post, I thought back to some of the books I enjoyed the most, and was pleased to discover that, in many of them, girls played powerful roles: smart, inquisitive, brave, adventurous, self-confident. A few of my favorite books, with girl protagonists, were: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; A Wrinkle in Time; the Nancy Drew Series; and, The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Because I grew up in the 1960s and 70s, before Title IX (which was passed in 1972, and influenced gender equity in education, far beyond the popular conception that it was only “about sports”), I have to admit I was surprised there were so many books with strong girl role models.
Flash forward to 2014. I am no longer a girl; I’m a woman, a mom. And my daughter is growing up in a world where:
39 million girls worldwide are still not in school (this is 54% of the total number of children).
510 million women are still illiterate worldwide. Women represent two-thirds of the total number of illiterate people.
While educational opportunities for women are on the rise, and illiteracy rates for women are on the decline, women still outnumber men when it comes to lack of education and the ability to read. This is why I want my daughter to find role models, girls and women who are strong, brave, smart, creative, adventurous women. I hope she’ll read some of the books that had such a great impact on me when I was younger, and that she will find new heroines of her own.
On March 8, 2014, International Women’s Day, I think about the future generations of girls and women. My daughter is among them. May they be allowed to discover the power of books and writing. And may they use this power to change the world.
Take the road less traveled, Beth