“Half the Sky” discusses the social status of women in different countries around the world, contrasting their current plights with their potential societal impact.
“Women and girls aren’t the problem, they’re the solution,” Kristoff said.
Kristoff placed the issue of gender inequity today on the scale of totalitarianism in the 20th century and slavery the century before.
“In so much of the developing world, the greatest unexploited resource that countries have isn’t seams of gold and it’s not diamond mines, it’s just the female population,” Kristof said.
The couple, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for their coverage of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, noted that women across the globe face discriminatory practices even in their own homes.
“Parents in general thought that it was worth it, sending their sons to school, but in the case of a daughter, they thought, ‘What’s the point of sending a girl to get an education?’ ” Kristoff said. Some families in India, they explained, will starve their daughters in order to feed their sons.
In another example, WuDunn noted the distressing cases of sex slavery she had encountered in her work, prefacing her presentation with a warning. “I will show you some things that will be really harsh,” she said.
Kristof explained that improvements in women’s education will result in improvements in issues of poverty, the environment, fertility, reproductive health and issues of overpopulation.
WuDunn and Kristof also reflected on the personal significance of their careers, noting the unique way in which journalism makes an impact on others.
“It’s not as much to change minds, but it’s the spotlight that we carry and that ability to shine it on something that may be uncomfortable to people, and thereby project on to the agenda,” Kristof said.
He said that he believes a journalist’s influence comes from his ability to illuminate issues that might lack attention.
“Basically,” Kristof said, “My aim is to get you to spill your coffee a couple times a week and make you think about things that maybe before you hadn’t.”
Despite the gravity of the subject matter, the lecture’s tone was at times lighthearted, with Kristof eliciting laughter from the audience after noting that he was Harvard-educated.
“I think we can agree that Princeton is one of the two best universities,” he joked.
Kristof also detailed some of the humorous episodes of his career. After writing an article about a rural school in China, readers sent in donations to pay for the children’s education. Kristof called one generous reader to thank him for his $10,000 contribution. The contribution, however, had been incorrectly wired and was actually only for $100, Kristof explained.
“We couldn’t imagine going back to these girls and telling them that they had to drop out,” he said.
Fortunately, the donation was covered by the bank.
“We then had this great financial experiment in what happens when you have an exogenous investment in female human capital,” he said.
Read More
Yale University to join Research Collections and Preservation Consortium (ReCAP)
David YunYale University has joined Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, and the New York Public Library in one of the world’s largest library and archives preservation repositories and shared collections, Research Collections and Preservation Consortium, also known as ReCAP.
Yale University has joined Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, and the New York Public Library in one of the world’s largest library and archives preservation repositories and shared collections, Research Collections and Preservation Consortium, also known as ReCAP.
Princeton rising junior passes away in cycling accident
Victoria DaviesKerry Grundlingh ’27 has passed away in a cycling accident near her home in South Africa.
Kerry Grundlingh ’27 has passed away in a cycling accident near her home in South Africa.
15 personas detenidas por ICE en Calle Harrison, explican funcionarios de Princeton
Luke GrippoSegún el alcalde de Princeton, Mark Freda, inicialmente los oficiales de inmigración solamente estaban en busca de una persona. Ana Paola Pazmiño, directora ejecutiva del grupo local de defensa de la inmigración, Resistencia en Acción NJ, reveló que los oficiales detuvieron a estas personas y les pusieron en una camioneta mientras ellos estaban de camino a su trabajo de paisajismo.
Según el alcalde de Princeton, Mark Freda, inicialmente los oficiales de inmigración solamente estaban en busca de una persona. Ana Paola Pazmiño, directora ejecutiva del grupo local de defensa de la inmigración, Resistencia en Acción NJ, reveló que los oficiales detuvieron a estas personas y les pusieron en una camioneta mientras ellos estaban de camino a su trabajo de paisajismo.