In class, we’d always talk about how these sentiments against career-focused women are a residual result of the historical patriarchy. The only way to break these residual effects are to create effective cultural change.

Affecting a cultural shift (and in this case, a possible cultural revolution) to change the way society frames the role of the woman is not an easy task for sure. And while there are those who will flock to large-scale and wide-scoping methods such as protests and petitions, I’d argue that the reason behind most effective cultural shifts are incremental. Laying the foundation for change through small actions end up being the catalyst for the larger, more vocal actions.

In that vein, I’d argue that while increasing education and vocational training for girls won’t necessarily make society’s inherent prejudices go away immediately, the small changes that will accrue will end up going a long way to create that kind of cultural change.

While I’m pretty convinced that this ripple effect exists, I am not fully convinced that it helps women change how they are perceived by others. Gender roles are less fluid in developing countries, so female micro-entrepreneurs might encounter resistance from people who feel threatened (e.g. those same village elders).

I’m in a much better situation than your average weaver/cow herder in Bangladesh, but I still run into people who have trouble with the idea of career-focused women (“Why aren’t you married by now? Tick tock!”).

There are a lot of visible (domestic abuse) and invisible (family obligation, conformity) pressures that prevent women from taking control of their lives (financial, contraceptive, etc). Probably the first step to empowering women would be to identify these pressures and work within local cultural frameworks to lift them.

Let’s hope more people take the time to learn about just how important the empowerment of girls is to the future of humanity.

Nike is great to get behind this cause - I still remember their awesome TV spots around girls playing sports that used to get me all choked up when I’d see them (not that I was ever into sports as a girl, more of a bookworm myself). I’m not sure how we convince policy-makers and planners of the importance of this issue, but I know one way we (you and I) can both help out: write and tell stories about it!

:)