Half the Sky Review - Book Report/Review Example

Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristoff and Sheryl WuDUNN A Book Review by of June 01, Vintage Books 320 pages Reprint edition Brief Synopsis of the book Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristoff and Sheryl WuDUNN is a book that talks about the Oppression of the female gender in the developing world and the need to fight against the evil that has been meted against women. The authors make readers realize that, in spite of these things, some of these women still succeed, and part of their success could be attributed to the CARE program that was done to empower women in developing countries.

The couple that wrote the book takes their readers through the lives and times of several women in Africa and Asia. They conducted interviews with some of these women and relates the ordeals of these women to their esteemed readers. The prevalent cases of trafficking in some of these developing countries were also discussed and the health risk that, these women could likely face because of the many dangers they are exposed to. The extent at which, the culture, education, politics, and environment of an individual affects their health was also discussed in the book.

The authors also urged their readers to make bold steps in nipping these problems highlighted in the bud, before it eats deep into the society. Half the Sky Book Review What the book is about Half the Sky is about the persistent oppression of women in the developing world and the crusade against this violation of human rights (Kristoff & WuDUNN, 2010). The book advocates for the right of the women as the authors urges their esteemed readers to join the crusade against the continual oppression of women in the developing world.

The authors take the readers through the struggles of women under these inhumane conditions and dire circumstances (Kristoff & WuDUNN, 2010). The book also takes a critical look at the life of some women that succeeded under these harsh conditions. The book also talks about the story of a woman from Burundi that succeeds through the help of the CARE village savings and loan program (Kristoff & WuDUNN, 2010). This woman eventually becomes an entrepreneur and this was through the empowerment program that was made possible by the CARE village savings and loan program.

Where the book takes place geographically and temporally The authors take the readers through Africa and Asia. They view the ordeal of women in African countries such as Ethiopia, Burundi, Mali, Congo, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and so on (Kristoff & WuDUNN, 2010). They also narrate the ordeal of women in the Asian countries of Cambodia, Korea, Bangladesh, Japan, China, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, and so on (Kristoff & WuDUNN, 2010). The experiences of women in the aforementioned countries were shared with readers.

The book is coming at a time that, the issue of women's rights and the oppression of the people of the female gender is being discussed across the world. The reasons that, a nursing student in a Global Health course should read this book This book would be of tremendous help to a nursing student in a Global Health course. The book would help the nursing student to understand the health risk faced by women across the world, especially developing countries. The book would help them to know that, there are certain traditions and cultures in developing countries that are dangerous to the health of women.

Such cultures encourage genital cutting and this has been proven dangerous to the health of women. By reading this book, the nursing students would become aware of countries that have prevalent rape cases. Thus, they would be able to deal with the mental torture that rape victims are made to face. The nursing students would easily help join the crusade against women trafficking. The nursing students would be better equipped with preventing women from dying during childbirth. Thus, the book would be of tremendous help to nursing students in a Global Health course as it helps them to be more conversant with health issues across countries of the developing world.

The “take home message” of the book The “take home message” of the book is that one has to join the crusade against the oppression of women in the society. The authors concluded by charging the readers to take action (Kristoff & WuDUNN, 2010), and this brings one to the consciousness that; these terrible things would continue to happen, if people decide to fold their hands and do nothing. The ordeals of the individuals that, the authors discussed in the book show that, there are so many evils in the world of today and these things needs to be nipped in the bud, before things go out of hand.

Another message of this book is that, the people that are usually oppressed do not have a voice of their own as their oppressors silence them. Thus, the voice they rely upon, to fight for them are those of the people around them. Helping these people to speak out would easily bring them out of the shackles of oppression that has held them captives in the society. The lessons learnt from reading this book in terms of culture, politics/environment, education, and their impact on health There are several lessons learnt from reading this book in terms of culture, politics/environment, and education.

This book makes one realize that, the culture, politics, environment, and education of an individual play a huge role in the health of that individual. The book makes me realize that, it is acceptable in some cultures, that a man can rape the woman that he wants to get married to, in order to force her to yield to his will. In some other cultures, criminals usually use rape as a weapon. Some cultures even go to the extent of promoting genital cutting in women and this has dire consequences on the health of these women.

Another lesson learnt is that, politics and the environment have a huge role to play in protecting the interests of the people of the female gender. Policymakers would need to be educated on the need to empower women in the communities and to institutionalize policies to support this cause. This would help to reduce the risk faced by women with deadly health issues. The book makes me realize that, if policies are not made to speak against injustice and poverty, the women could be forced to take decisions that could affect their health in the end.

The environment also has to be conducive enough to support the cause of the women. The book also makes me realize that, there are several cultures that do not encourage investing in health care and education for women and the result of this is not good at all. This sad development would prevent the women from ascending in the economic ladder of the country and they would now be made to depend on their male relatives for their survival. Some of them could even be made to go into prostitution because of this, and they would face the threats of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and this could ultimately lead to their deaths at an early age.

They could also suffer fistulas in childbirths or even become undernourished and die eventually. Thus, the lack of support of women in education and health care in some cultures affects their health largely. The lessons learnt that would be incorporated into nursing practice One of the things learnt that would be incorporated into my nursing practice is the case of rape victims. Through, this book, I would be able to cater for the needs of the women that were raped. I understand that, these women would be facing some psychological challenges because of the rape they faced.

Thus, I would subject these women to quality medical counseling and make them forget their past and face the future that seems brighter than, they ever imagined. This book also exposed me to the health risks of genital mutilation, thus, I would make efforts to ease the pains of women that have been mutilated against their own will. Elaboration on practice change Several practices need to be changed in order for developments to be made in specific areas. The practice of mutilating women needs to be changed in several cultures in order to ensure that, women reach their full potential and really become something in life.

The practice of feet binding in China has been stopped for instance and this means that, as the people become more enlightened, they change the practices that have negatively affected their citizens. Genital mutilation was also practiced in England and it was stopped in the middle of the nineteenth century. This further corroborates the fact that, as the people gets enlightened; they begin to change certain practices. Reference Kristoff, N.D., & WuDUNN, S. (2010) Half the Sky Turning Oppression into Opportunity For Women Worldwide.

New York: Vintage Books. Print.