It’s Time for Women to Step Up
Nicole Baute from The Star asked me to share some of the central messages of No Excuses when she interviewed me last week. Here is an excerpt from that interview.
You called your book No Excuses. Do you think that women are coming up with excuses for why we aren’t getting a little more power and a little more pay?
The honest truth is that my title was Unlimited and the publishers made me change it. They wanted something more controversial. I tend to take the positive approach. I think this is the moment for women, but I did want to sound a clarion call to women to say, this is a moment, but you have to take it. Things won’t just happen.
Why would you have preferred Unlimited?
INTENTIONING
Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women
Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good
The new book from Gloria Feldt about the future, taking the leadership lessons learned from this disruption and creating a better world for all through the power of intention.
Because I am hopeful, I am optimistic and I believe that this is just an incredible time for women.
Why is now an incredible time?
Well, the rest of the world knows it. I’m not sure we always do. For example, the World Bank has done studies that found that Parliaments that have 30 or 40 per cent women on them make better decisions, they have less corruption, the performance is better. Marketers know that women buy 85 per cent of the goods.
That old thinking, why is it still persisting?
It’s hard to change a culture while you live in it. And by the way, it’s easier sometimes to change the law than it is to change a culture. We’ve been able to change most of the laws, we’ve removed most of the legal barriers. It’s the cultural barriers that are difficult to contend with now.
You wrote about how your life changed a lot after getting married as a teenager and having children young, and that you realized that you could have more control over the car you were driving, and turn it around. How did you make that happen?
You do it by doing it. First, I started college and just being with other people who were learning and doing things changed how I looked at everything. I immersed myself in reading and I became involved in the civil rights movement. I realized at one point that women have civil rights, too. That was an epiphany.
You got fired up.
I got fired up. There’s nothing better than being ticked off about something to fire you up.
Come back on Thursday, when I’ll share more of the interview here on the 9 Ways Blog. If you don’t already have a copy of No Excuses, The Progressive Book Club is giving away free copies of my book to readers who join the book club by October 27th.
I’ll be speaking on Book Talk Radio tomorrow with Salon.com’s Joe Conason. RSVP to join the discussion. And if you’re in Arizona, join me this evening for a No Excuses event at Changing Hands Bookstore.
GLORIA FELDT is the New York Times bestselling author of several books including No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, a sought-after speaker and frequent contributor to major news outlets, and the Co-Founder and President of Take The Lead. People has called her “the voice of experience,” and among the many honors she has been given, Vanity Fair called her one of America’s “Top 200 Women Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers,” and Glamour chose her as a “Woman of the Year.”
As co-founder and president of Take The Lead, a leading women’s leadership nonprofit, her mission is to achieve gender parity by 2025 through innovative training programs, workshops, a groundbreaking 50 Women Can Change The World immersive, online courses, a free weekly newsletter, and events including a monthly Virtual Happy Hour program and a Take The Lead Day symposium that reached over 400,000 women globally in 2017.
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I think it’s very interesting that you originally wanted to name it Unlimited. I think that’s a great title. In the end, I’m glad that this book was published regardless of the title. It’s more about the message and the useful tools in it that really help women.
Unlimited makes me think of that song from Wicked – I think your book encourages women to defy gravity as much as Elphaba does. 🙂
Exactly! Elphaba the green witch sang it.
We all need to understand how critical it is to just get involved with our children and our communities. We can change so much just by contacting lawmakers when things aren’t right. I belong to a nationwide group of parents, Surviving Parents Coaliton. We all learned first hand where changes were critically needed. We got ticked off and fired up.
We are making changes, little by little, to legislation that will help protect our children. Currently we are pushing to get DNA collected on all felony arrests in all 50 states. It will save lives and get the criminals behind bars sooner. It will prevent many crimes and fewer cases will grow cold. Phone calls and emails to our lawmakers will make changes happen. Social networking can educate others about the changes that are desperately needed. Women are fabulous at making changes. We are protecting the innocent and keeping the innocent out of jail by pushing for collection of DNA on all felony arrests.
Thank you, Karen, for this important information and for your work. You are creating a movement which is another power tool we’ll discuss here soon, so check in each week. Meanwhile, all good wishes to you in reaching your goals.