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Imagining Ourselves: Global Voices from a New Generation of Women

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My friend, who dropped by my office to take me out for dinner, saw the Imagining Ourselves book on my desk. "What's this?" she asked. "I just got it from Amazon, take a look" I said. "I don't think I'm gonna like it", she said, "all these books about women empowerment and all, I never connect with all this."

My friend is a scientist. With her PhD in biology, working at an Ivy League university with the world's best researchers, she thought that "all that women empowerment stuff" was irrelevant for her. After all, she has "made it" in the world, never feeling that being a woman was much of an obstacle.

And this is why this book is so great. It didn't take my friend more than a few seconds holding this book in her hands to realize how much "all that women empowerment stuff" had become a part of her. So much so that she can live the life she does without that constant awareness, without that constant struggle. It had become a part of her to such an extent that she never thinks about it anymore. "All that women empowerment stuff" had been so successful in bringing change that to some women it had finally become irrelevant.

My friend picked up the book from my desk and read the back cover. Then she looked inside. Then she sat down, and I didn't hear from her for about an hour. She couldn't really put it down.

If you think that you are beyond "all that women empowerment stuff" then this is just the book for you. And if you don't, well, then definitely read it.

I love the fact that this book is a compliation of work from so many places around the world. I got it as a gift and have loved pouring over it. I didn't read it from cover to cover, but rather dipped in and out. I did find, however, that almost every entry made me feel either hopeful, strong, happy, inspired, impressed or awestruck. What a great voice from our generation! I'm passing it on to as many friends as possible!

As a proud member of the International Museum of Women, I really recommend this book to women of all ages, of any cultural background, anywhere.

What makes this book so endearing - and so different from many other books concerning women's current socio-cultural/political issues - is that the stories are very personal, internationally diverse yet filled with a common essence that reaches out to every women regardless of generation, nationality, or social, economic, or educational level. Even "Eve" back in Eden could have benefited from this book, recognizing the archetype (or stereotype!) that she was setting for generations to come!

Furthermore, the stories, even when extraordinary (and many are), are simple and ordinary in the best sense in that the women who authored them address the issues of their times as everyday themes that are both timely and timeless - and certainly appreciable by men as well as women.

The book is also just a great picture book, almost like a travel book, but one that journeys through minds and souls as well as landscapes of achievement by truly beautiful and gifted women united by their place in history.

What really enhances the book and defines its time is the availability of its adjunct Imagining Ourselves/Museum of Women web site exhibit, which is multilingual. This interactive element expands the book's value from frozen print to a growing presentation of living, contributing women from across the globe.

Women in every time, in every field, in every culture have served as inspiring sources of education and guidance for other women, but unfortunately women of the past were not as informationally or cross-culturally advantaged as the women of today, hence, their reach was limited and thus their support from and of other women was limited.

What a great miracle the Internet is in overcoming such boundaries as time, culture, and geography!

And what a great miracle this book is, particularly for the women who are its subject - the most well-educated, well-traveled, professionally empowered, and internationally integrated generation of women to date.

Wow this book was not only inspiring, but incredibly thought provoking. I laughed, I cried and I could not put the book down. I am recommending this book to anyone I meet!

What an inspirational book! It is filled with humor, beauty, creativity, sadness, joy, compassion, and hope. It is a perfect college graduation book for the young women in your life!

With so many wonderful women's books to read these days, this beautiful book is an easy and delightful read, not to mention incredible "eye candy" for the soul. The diversity of stories and artistic images from women all over the world reminds me of how much women have in common, despite our geographic borders. What a great gift for any young woman contemplating her life voyage, and a special momento to celebrate International Women's Day (March 8).

About the Author/editor: Paula Goldman was born in Singapore in 1975. She lived in Jakarta, Indonesia with her family. In 1997 she moved to Southern California, where she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. She then went on to receive a master's degree in public affairs from Princeton University. Paula is studying for a PHD in Social Anthropology at Harvard University.
Paula had a vision, and through her vision and her internal non-stop forward move she came up with the idea to do a book that would involve many different women from many different countries.
The idea of an Anthology came up when she was conversing with a friend, Denise Dunning. Their ideas bounced back and forth with memories and experiences of other women from different countries that they have had friendships and encounters with. To be able to put all of these amazing women into one book would be the only book of its kind.
Paula Goldman has always been driven into journeys in regards to working with people in conflict and in helping to better the opportunities in certain impoverished areas. Paula is a true moving spirit, spreading her strengths and education to all those that she can reach. Through her ideas and words, Paula brings to us her book about women across the globe which in turn has created a true legacy to her name.

About the Book: Imagining Ourselves: Global Voices from a New Generation of Women

The journey to creating "Imagining Ourselves": Global Voices from a New Generation of Women started in the fall of 2001, during a breakfast between friends. It was a true challenge and a beginning to a book that only now can speak for itself.

Women between 20 and 40 from all over the globe were invited to share a piece of their culture that would result from basically one question, "What defines your generation of women?" In order to be able to even come close to reaching over one billion women, The International Museum of Women was approached and became partners with Paula Goldman in order to fulfill her mission. Then an International Advisory Committee was formed involving twenty-five women from around the world who served as interpreters in communications.

The results were organized into a book called, "Imagining Ourselves", which is a global collection of many different stories, poems, art forms, and intimate portraits of women finally opening up their most inner personnel being, and striving to become a woman that will make their ancestors proud.

The submissions that you will see in this book are spiritual, humorous, beautiful, thought provoking and some could be considered offensive. These are some of the real women of this day and age. They are women that have overcome their heritage and seized the day, so to speak. Through their art work and stories they reveal to us what it is like to gain an education and succeed in stepping up in a world that has challenged them, whether it is through poverty, violence, politics, extreme old fashion rules, or just life itself.

The women that have been chosen for this book come from all over the globe. From countries such as: Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East & North Africa, North America, Oceania, Sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe. These are just a handful of cultures that, "Imagining Ourselves: Global Voices from a New Generation of Women" represents in regards to how far women have come with their achievements, self-esteem and the ability to stand up and be proud of who they are and where they were born.

Recommendation: This book is for every walk of life and every room in the house. I also recommend it as a historical read to be cherished by our libraries across the globe. It is truly one of a kind. "Imagining Ourselves: Global Voices from a New Generation of Women", will build ones self-esteem and hopes that women are becoming stronger and are overcoming all of the elements that stand in their way in building a more unique self. No matter what part of the world women are from, they are equally striving for a stronger voice to be heard. Womensselfesteem.com highly recommends this book to all people across the globe.

"Thank You Paula Goldman, for everything you have done for women!"

With so many wonderful women's books to read these days, this beautiful book is an easy and delightful read, not to mention incredible "eye candy" for the soul. The diversity of stories and artistic images from women all over the world reminds me of how much women have in common, despite our geographic borders. What a great gift for any young woman contemplating her life voyage, and a special momento to celebrate International Women's Day (March 8).

I hope this review will do justice to Imagining Ourselves: Global Voices From a New Generation of Women, a compendium of achievement-oriented women compiled by Paula Goldman with the assistance of the International Museum of Women (www.imow.org). The women are between the ages of twenty and forty, and have made extraordinary contributions to their families, communities, economies and societies. They come from every corner of the globe, from Beijing to Bogota, San Francisco to Saint Petersburg, Cairo to Calcutta. Each offers her individual story: her experiences and goals. We learn of the many obstacles they encountered in their anti-feminist cultures that could easily have prevented them from achieving their goals. But each in her own way overcomes them due to her determination to express herself, to make an impact on her personal world and on the world at large. Each is determined to be in charge of her own destiny.

As a woman in my seventies, I am an ardent admirer of this book because it inspires all women, not just the age group of the younger women chosen for its pages. Women are often not encouraged to plummet their creativity, to go into the world which in many cultures remains the domain of men. And so women have become somewhat timid and uncertain of their own capacities. Imagining Ourselves reminds women in general that their abilities exceed their own appraisals, and that they can prevail inspite of the financial and emotional roadblocks so often in the way. The book displays the talents and attitudes of 105 women from 57 countries and serves as a primer for women everywhere. I feel immensely gratified, in our current world of violence and insecurity, to view this compendium of women who so admirably claim and exercise their power.

Imagining Ourselves offers page after page of women expressing their beliefs, their creativity: we are shown photographs, paintings, poems, stories, essays, business acumen, talents without boundaries, often achieved under crushing adversity. The book is a convincing reminder that women can indeed change the course of our violent world. It is the voice of Erika Hibbert who speaks about young women in South Africa mending the collective wounds of apartheid. It is the voice of Jessica Loseby from England who talks about successfully having a family despite being confined to a wheelchair - something that would been virtually unthinkable for a disabled woman even a generation ago. It is the voice Mayerly Sanchez who, in the midst of Colombia's civil war, had the temerity to organize youth against the violence. She orchestrated a historic national vote in which thousands of kids and teenagers across the country went to the polls to make a highly televised statement against the violence. And one month later, as a result, tens of thousands of adult Colombians also went to the polls to demand an end to forced kidnapping and abuses of children associated with the war.

"Mayerly did not grow up as an elite member of her society. She did not have access to extraordinary wealth or networks of privilege. She ... was simply a young woman with a good idea who did not stop to question the proposition that she could make a difference in the world." Imagining Ourselves is a provocative and illuminating book that contains a uniquely diverse selection of young women who remain true to their ideals.

Ms. Goldman sees her book as a kind of conversation... to be used as a tool to unite women, a conversation she hopes all women will join. It needs to be said here that these women represent the middle and upper-middle classes of their countries, women who have had the benefits of education and technology; they are not the voices of the poor and underprivileged.

Ms. Goldman stresses two points I particularly appreciate: one, that fulfilling their dreams requires women to exercise more patience and persistence than they originally anticipated. It is easy to get discouraged, to allow despair to get the upper hand, and throw in the towel too quickly, too soon. Her other interesting point is that the realization of their dreams rarely looks the way they expect it will look, and that they need to remain flexible in order to accept the new and different outcomes that may, however, lead them where they wish to go. The beauty of creativity, Goldman reminds us all, lies in its unpredictability and we need to recognize that this is good, that this is an invaluable part of the creative process.

The brilliant Chilean author, Isabel Allende, has written the Foreword of this book. She writes of her childhood and the repression suffered by women in her country. How being born female was the biggest disadvantage, how she, along with others, rebelled against the many unfairnesses perpetrated against them, and how life slowly changed for women, particularly after the invention of the birth control pill. However, she stresses that much still needs to be done, that she does get depressed from time to time, and how grateful she is that this book landed on her desk to remind her that women are feeling empowered today as never before.

Indeed, this meticulously assembled collection reflects the indomitable spirit inherent in women. I, too, believe we are moving more and more into an era of matriachy similar to that experienced in eras past. And the inspiring contents of Imagining Ornselves: Global Voices from a New Generation of Women is ample proof of this fact.

by Duffie Bart
for Story Circle Book Reviews
www.storycirclebookreviews.org
reviewing books by, for and about women

I previewed this item from the newsletter organization which published it for a long time. When I received a gift certificate reward for doing volunteer work for an on-line non-profit, I went for it! It is a great, uplifting read; very creative edit job! I enjoyed it immensely. Most, if not all of the women in it are under 40 though. This surprised me, as the demographic target was not advertised as being this specific. I will probably pass this along to one of my younger women friends.