Roe vs. Wade as a Global Imperative

The right for a woman to choose whether or not to give birth and to have access to safe, legal abortion services is not only a human right but a global imperative.  As reported in the Stanford [University] News recently, Stanford biologists Paul and Anne Ehrlich maintain that global civilization is moving toward a collapse.

The key drivers of collapse, they maintain, are worldwide overpopulation and overconsumption, putting an incredible strain on the planet's natural systems, and threatening to negatively impact all future generations.
A critical first step of the Ehrlichs’ roadmap for avoiding society's total collapse emphasizes equal rights for women worldwide.  "This will allow us to include more of their brainpower to help solve these problems," Professor Paul Ehrlich said. "And studies have shown that when women are given full rights, they have fewer children, which will help slow birth rates."  (The Ehrlichs gathered research from over 150 published papers to support this thesis.)

A woman’s right to choose is a powerful and positive weapon in the need to create population sanity.  It is a big part of the discussion.  

Said Professor Ehrlich, “The U.S. just had a presidential election in which the crucial issues facing society were not debated. Instead the focus was on financial problems easily solved by negotiation among people. You can't negotiate with nature."

Agreed, nature is at stake here.  As pointed out in Independence Ring: Rock the Female Revolution, it is natural for women to express their innate power.  This power should naturally be expressed in leadership including social, political, media, economic, educational and scientific arenas.  It is natural for women to choose the timing, frequency and occurrence (if at all) of child-bearing. 

There was a time, not that long ago, when child-bearing was a requirement in order to pass on a family lineage, to work a farm, to run a business.  Women might bear ten children and only three would survive to adulthood.  Safe, simple abortions were impossible to come by.  That time is over, and we live in another time – a ticking clock towards planetary destruction unless women sit at the table with their wisdom, intuition, leadership, articulate communication skills and complete control over their own bodies.   To regulate the biological functions of a woman and tell her what she can and cannot do with her own body is not only absurd but unsafe for the world we live in.

*****

Liz Lewinson is an author, speaker, teacher and technologists.  Her recent book is Independence Ring: Rock the Female Revolution.

Jennifer Lawrence and Vanity Fair's Sexism

Vanity Fair Magazine has proclaimed Jennifer Lawrence the most desirable woman in the world.  I hope Jennifer is annoyed about it.  She is definitely the hot actress of the moment, but she is also smart, brainy, self-confident, outspoken and funny.  On the Vanity Fair cover she holds a little white daisy.  It doesn't fit.  The person does not fit the title and the title does not match the image.

We are in a time of change regarding gender roles, fortunately.  The Vanity Fair cover is a jarring mismatch of old and new.  Little white daisy -- simmering, powerless women in pretty dresses floating around the garden.  Jennifer Lawrence, strong-minded and capable 22-year old actress, a new generation of feminist. 

This is what the cover did for me.  It provoked a thought process.  Are older editors at Vanity Fair, which is frequently known for demeaning photo images of women, stuck in the fresh younger women equal white daisies syndrome?  Do they have any idea how to portray powerful young women?

Yes, Jennifer Lawrence is attractive, but sexual attractiveness is the least of her traits.  She is athletic, natural and smart.  Don't push her boobs up and stick a daisy in front of her.  Praise her for being the most desirably talented woman in the world.  Still not a complete statement but a bit more accurate.  

Who is the most desirable woman in the world?  Women are. Why are we so desirable? Because we as women are great problem solvers,  we have an advanced intuition, we communicate well, we are comfortable with complexity, we are innately powerful.

It's really no fun to have mainstream media consistently perpetuating 50 shades of sexism.   #notbuyingit



Liz Lewinson is author of Independence Ring: Rock the Female Revolution.  www.independencering.com. @lizlewinson.

Women of India, Leaders in Restoring Harmony

In an interview on CNN, Erin Burnett spoke with Fareed Zakaria about the international coverage of a gang rape in India, and the national outrage that the rape has sparked.  Both the coverage and the outrage, while fully merited, are unusual.  Zakaria made some interesting points about it.  

The first is that social media has made the spread of information accessible in ways that never existed before.  Many people in India, for example, do not have computers but they do have cell phones that receive text messages and can access the internet.  Now groups of people can be informed and mobilized in ways never before possible.  In the past, in the lore of repressing and weakening a segment of the population (in this case, women), the best way to do this was to keep them isolated from one another and without access to valuable information.  With those restrictions removed in this age of social media, women can work together and share empowering information – thus large groups of women demonstrating on the streets in India.

Another point made by Fareed (and others), is that rape is not about sex, it’s about power.  The worst and lowest kind of power – domination, control and destruction.  I heard a Buddhist teacher say many years ago,  “It is human nature to destroy what one is threatened by.  Men, threatened by the power of women, have tried to destroy it in every way – economically, socially, politically, spiritually, and physically.”   

This same teacher pointed out, and I have observed for many decades that this is true, that women are innately meant to express and exemplify power. Why?  Because (in Indian yoga terms), the kundalini or life force moves through them much more rapidly than in a man.   If you look at power in nature and in our physical world today, the more rapid the movement, the greater the power.  

Here in the West, women are making great strides, raising awareness of gender inequality and absurd and false stereotyping.  Victories in the boardroom and in government are being won.  My inspiration, however, for the women of India is that they leapfrog over the battles on many fronts being waged in the West and go right to the heart of victory.

I traveled in India many years ago, from Mumbai to Rishikesh, and I know that spiritual belief is paramount in many homes.  India is a democratic country rich in tradition.  In India, it is known that it is bad karma to suppress and dominate an entire segment of the population that is naturally and innately powerful.  It throws the whole nation and society off balance, upsetting the wheel of dharma.  Traditions exist to be honored, but they can adapt.

Women exemplify power from a spiritual point of view.  Power means leadership, education, and economic success.  Women are innately suited to deal with the complexity and rapid movement that is characteristic of power.  Bringing women to the fore in government, education, conservation, science, medicine – in every field of endeavor – will create a balance not seen in recent history (the last few thousand years).  India deserves to become a leader in restoring balance to the planet.  

Liz Lewinson is the author of Independence Ring, a book that explains how and why women need to reclaim their innate power, not just for themselves but to help many others. 

MORE for Women in 2013!

2012 was a watershed year for women.  Awareness grew about the prejudice and repression of women around the globe.  Women around the world reached new victories and landmarks.  Social media served as the broadcast medium for change.  Hardly a day passed on Twitter that I did not feel inspired, motivated and impressed by the strides and new realizations of women.

For 2013, here are the top ten things I'd love to see MORE of. 

1.     More telling it like it is.  Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, unleashed an unflinching denunciation of the misogyny and sexism of a leading male member of her parliament.  If you haven't seen this clip, you should -- the first seven minutes are priceless.  She is SAYING what every woman has thought or felt for years and that's why the clip went viral.  In 2013, I'd like to see every women push back against the winking, derogatory, behind the back downgrading that goes on in many workplaces and social settings.  Call it for what it is.

2.     More pressure on the media.  Media watchdog films and clips by MissRepresentation.org are reaching millions.  Check out their best and worst of 2012.  We need lots more of this.  Why is reality TV with women depicted as bitches and bimbos even allowed on the air?  Women's Media Center is also active in this space, as is Geena Davis.  Let's keep the pressure on media executives to depict women as they are -- powerful and strong.

3.     More research on women's roles in society.  One of the great books to emerge in 2012 was "Sex and World Peace."  Nope, it was not a book about sex.  It was about women and their effect on society.  Today's mega-computers process huge amounts of data, and these college professors enlisted their students' help assimilate data about how women fare in every country in the world.  Countries where women fare best -- are safest, earn highest income, are most influential -- are the most peaceful countries in the world.  Surprised? Of course not.

4.     More grants and awards to support research on women.  Speaking of Geena Davis, her Institute on Gender in Media landed a $1.2M Google Global Impact Award to develop voice and image recognition technology to assess gender inequalities on screen, and promote balance in children’s media and entertainment worldwide.  A victory.

5.     More mind-opening films about the plight of women.  "Half the Sky" by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn won praise, a wide viewership and excellent media coverage.  It brought to the mainstream just a few examples of unspeakable crimes against women -- forced prostitution, genital mutilation, the slave trade.  Efforts to correct extreme gender imbalance are a worldwide planetary requirement.

6.     More social media-inspired activism and initiatives. In 2012, online petitions and campaigns brought awareness regarding abuse of photo retouching to create an unreal standard of female beauty that teenage girls in particular and women in general are then held to. This past Christmas, campaigns to stop sexism in toys (pink ovens for girls, science kits for boys) raised the awareness of toymakers about how toys send wrong messages to girls.

7.     More video game gender equality.  Anita Sarkeesian bravely endured death and rape threats to stick to her message -- represent girls and women accurately in video games.  Kids today spend hours on these games and what do they see -- violence and degradation of women.  Anita has started dialogues with video gamers and companies and she's not backing down.  Much more work to do.

8.     More women in politics.  We have the largest group so far in the US congress -- 20 women senators.  They say they can solve problems more quickly because they innately k now how to collaborate.  According to science, they have better intuitions and communication skills, too.  Who better to lead nations, corporations and cabinets?

9.     More women in STEM.  Science, Technology, Engineering and Math are excellent professions in which women can excel.  The lack of women in these fields undermines progress, and women are denied challenging, interesting, high-income work.  Re-igniting women’s access to and interest in these fields will bring new breakthroughs.

10. More focus on the root cause of gender issues.  There is underlying cause.  Women are the power species. Just as there are physical differences, there are energy differences. Empowered women will create world peace. See Independence Ring and download a free chapter!

2013 will be an exciting and inspiring year for women!

Liz Lewinson is an author, speaker and teacher.  She also specializes in business and technology strategic planning.  Her recently published book is Independence Ring: Rock the Female Revolution.