How can we create the momentum needed to uplift human beings in general, but especially the female gender? How can we create this momentum in the hearts of all human beings, so that everyone agrees that women deserve their rights? Often, all we need to do, in order to recognise the empowerment women need, is to stop stifling their abilities and talents.
Now more than ever, we have the knowledge, energy, and moral ‘enlightenment’ to break the negative patterns of the past. We need commitment and help from all supporters and representatives, male or female, without exception: everyone should be part of this much-needed change.
Having said that, people themselves can often change over time: when her daughter, Jenn, was not yet a year old, Melinda Gates was asked if she was a feminist. She was not sure how to answer that question, because she did not think of herself as such, and she was not even sure she knew what it meant to be a feminist. Twenty-two years later, Melinda now thinks of herself as an ardent feminist: she knows that this means believing that all women should be able to make their voices heard and fulfil their potential, and that men and women should work together to break down barriers and put a stop to the preconceptions and prejudices that, even today, slow down women’s progress.