Tag Archives: men

Men are Part of She's the First, Too!

Lew is the latest sponsor for the Haiti Outreach Program!

[Editor's Note: Not all of our sponsors are young women in their 20s! She's the First is a co-ed movement that spans multiple generations, and we are proud to present Lew as the latest sponsor of a girl in Haiti, through our partner GiveHaitiHope.org/the Haiti Outreach Program.]

My name is Lew Blaustein, 51, President of New York City-based marketing consultancy, Lewis Brand Solutions, Inc.  We develop results-based sales and marketing solutions for companies and non-profits in my three areas of personal passion:  Green/Sustainability, Sports, and Arts.

Another personal passion is education, particularly the urgency and importance of providing girls with access to education in developing countries.  The columns of Pulitzer-Prize winner Nicholas Kristof gave me an awareness and appreciation of this problem.  When I was introduced to She’s The First, I knew I had found just the organization to match my interests with worthwhile projects the world over.

I was drawn to Haiti and the Haiti Outreach Program because of my interest in being of service in some small way to that earthquake-devastated country.  After the initial outpouring of global interest, the world’s attention has moved on and yet massive problems remain, with access to education chief among them.  Girls in Haiti have far less access than boys, so this seemed like a natural.  I am happy to help.

It is my hope that more men become aware of the access-to-education gap facing girls in developing nations and decide to become active in eliminating that gap.  To me, it’s clear:  The overall lifestyle and economic climate are far better in countries in which girls have access to education.  This is something that anyone, man or woman, should want to impact.

It is this angle (educating girls is the key to economic/political success and stability) that I think women should use to educate and energize men about this issue.  One other possible angle is obvious when we consider the mounting evidence that in developed nations, the US in particular, boys are now underachieving, versus their female counterparts in the classroom:  Women can encourage men to join them in support the education of girls in developing nations while women support boys’ education initiatives in developed countries.  The two are obviously not mutually exclusive.

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Why We Need Guys to Support Our Girls

Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristof, authors of "Half the Sky," Pulitzer-Prize winning journalists, and world-changing spouses

Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristof, authors of "Half the Sky," Pulitzer-Prize winning journalists, and world-changing spouses

Thursday night, I attended a showing of “Half the Sky Live,” the one-night-only, nationally screened event that brought the book Half the Sky by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn to life. Half the Sky follows the stories of extraordinary women around the globe as they struggle to overcome oppression. It calls for the education of girls as the solution to the world’s problems. This event, originally taped at NYU in February, featured musical performances, celebrity commentary, and the world premiere of a short film “Woineshet,” co-directed by Marisa Tomei.

As we watched “Half the Sky Live” at the Loews of Union Square, what I most admired was that it didn’t feel like a girl’s club…it was a co-ed show of concern and call for action. That’s exactly what we want for She’s the First. Yes, our name is feminine but the campaign isn’t exclusive to women — the action we encourage needs guys’ support too, because when all are educated, families have higher incomes, healthier children, and greater happiness. Here’s where I think “Half the Sky Live” triumphed in sending this message:

1. Most obviously, the book backing this movement for women and girls was authored by a male, Nicholas Kristof, who’s dedicated his career as a journalist to shedding light on the most neglected women, whose own countrymen have cast them in the shadows.

2. The show opened with a call to action by CARE Ambassador Michael Franti, an American musician. Many high-profile women participated in the event — Marisa Tomei, Sarah, Dutchess of York, Maria Bello, India.Arie — so the choice of a male opener was definitely strategic.

3. In Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone’s short film “Woineshet,” which reenacted the true story of an Ethiopian teenager who was raped and then protested a forced marriage to her rapist, special emphasis is placed on Woineshet’s father supporting his daughter despite cultural taboos. As The Washington Post had reported, “Woineshet’s father recalled that he felt caught between the draw of the modern world in the capital and the traditions of the village. He said he was offered bribes of cows and cash by local elders to keep quiet. He also endured pressure from some members of his family, who thought that Woineshet should marry her abductor. Ethiopian law absolves abductors of their crime if they marry their victims.”  But because he stood by Woineshet, she was saved and a new law precedent was set, protecting many other victims. Both Woineshet and her father were at the live event and received standing ovations.

She’s the First is incredibly inspired by Half the Sky‘s growth since publication last year. Just as the book ignited a whole movement that now incorporates music, film, educated panel discussions, and grassroots book clubs to spread awareness in the mainstream, we hope our small beginnings with a PSA video take on a multiplatform presence in the artistic, political, and online worlds as well. But we need you too, guys! So ladies, send this to your guy friends on Facebook and encourage them to link up to the campaign.

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