Why Women Should Rule the World | 
| Author: Dee Dee Myers
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $10.00
You Save: $14.95 (60%)
New (49) Used (15) from $9.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 15702
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0061140406
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.929092
EAN: 9780061140402
ASIN: 0061140406
Publication Date: March 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New Book, Excellent Condition
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
What would happen if women ruled the world? Everything could change, according to former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers. Politics would be more collegial. Businesses would be more productive. And communities would be healthier. Empowering women would make the world a better place—not because women are the same as men, but precisely because they are different. Blending memoir, social history, and a call to action, Dee Dee Myers challenges us to imagine a not-too-distant future in which increasing numbers of women reach the top ranks of politics, business, science, and academia. Reflecting on her own tenure in the Clinton administration and her work as a political analyst, media commentator, and former consultant to NBC's The West Wing, Myers assesses the crucial but long-ignored strengths that female leaders bring to the table. "Women tend to be better communicators, better listeners, better at forming consensus," Myers argues. In a highly competitive and increasingly fractious world, women possess the kind of critical problem-solving skills that are urgently needed to break down barriers, build understanding, and create the best conditions for peace. Myers knows firsthand the responsibilities and rewards of taking on leadership roles traditionally occupied by men. At thirty-one, she was appointed White House press secretary to President Bill Clinton—the first woman ever to hold the job. In a candid look at her years in Washington's political spotlight, she recalls the day-to-day challenge of confronting a press corps obsessed with more than just the president's policies. "Virtually every story written about me included observations about my earrings, my makeup, my clothes, my shoes. And then there was my hair." Recalling the pressures—both invited and imposed—of her West Wing years, Myers offers a hard-hitting look at the challenges women must overcome and the traps they must avoid as they travel the path toward success. From pioneering research in the laboratory, to innovations in business, entertainment, and media, to friendships that transcend partisanship in the U.S. Senate, she describes how female participation in public life has already transformed the world in which we live.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 A tad wonky July 4, 2008
I bought the book for my wife, who was complaining about how unfair the world is to women--and quite rightly so. Speaking for myself, I agree with Dee Dee Myers thesis, but it is hidden behind a lot of wonky poli-sci verbiage.
 We're Doomed June 20, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2SW8VFXLFH3QQ Here's my video review. I should warn readers though that Myer's book is more a memoir than an analytical work. Thanks for clicking in, Bernard
 dee dee is brilliant June 10, 2008
dee dee myers is brilliant in everyway.the thing that bothers me is women know this.really women knew this for over 100 years or more.im having my daughter and my girlfriends read this cause even though we know everything dee dee is saying.nothing is done and why oh why?i if we women voted to our potentiel wede be running this country rite now.maybee the more women that read this and other books like this they would understand that its not fantasy but fact.women should and will rule the country.its just a matter of us taking back what was once ours and if we do and it shouldnt be to hard im laughing .then it will be the same as now only women will set the laws and that would(have)to be better then what man is doing now.i read somewere on the net oh i wish i could remember her name .women are gaining fast while men are becoming the women of the 1950 s.that is soooo true.read it.see it.hear it.man kind is shrinking at a rate so fast it seems womankind has really already surpassed the still shrinking male role.i remember a long time ago my aunt telling me dont blame the men.we made them.lol yup.now its up to us women to take control.thank you dee dee
rough beginning but gets better June 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this book. The beginning starts out a bit angry but she quickly moves into a compelling, interesting, and balanced book about the role of women in helping to change the world. Myers does not disparage men in this book, but rather offers a balanced look at the contributions women have made.
Myers offers a number of eye opening examples of womens positive influence in business, politics, education etc. She speaks to the importance of educating women around the globe. One paragraph reads, "When Larry Summers was chief economist at World Bank, he argued that educating girls probably produced better returns than any other investment in the developed world....If fact, when women's incomes go up, child survival rates improve by an astonishing twenty times more than if a mans income increases by a similar amount....And children's weight measures improve eightfold."
Myers addresses the role of women in the corporate arena. She writes "Women make the vast majority of consumer decisions in this country - by many accounts, more than 80 percent. But we still don't have enough influence at the top of corporations that make and sell those goods and services. True, women now fill about half of all managerial positions, but among Fortune 500 companies, women account for only 16% of corporate officers, 5% of top earners - and an anemic 2% of CEOs".
Myers uses Revlon as an example to illustrate her point. The company is known for making womens products and yet "all of the company's senior managers and all but 3 members of its board were men".
Great book!! Now it's time for a Revised Edition June 5, 2008
Given the highly interesting and history-making events that culminated on June 3, 2008 - this book could easily afford a few more chapters, not just about Hillary Clinton, but of the women she met (some of them who were born BEFORE women received the right to vote) and the women who supported her during her long and tenacious campaign for presidential nomination. Hillary's "loss" is still women's gain - and clearly needs to be chronicled for future generations.
When I first started reading this book, I thought I was reading yet another litany of "This is what was done to me because I am a woman" complaints. But No!! I was wrong -- Kudos to you, Dee Dee Myers!. As I read further, I happily realized that Ms. Myers has not only benefited from her mistakes and passes on what she has learned to her readers - but she also informs us of the subtle and not-so-subtle ways she and women in positions of power were and are still discriminated against nowadays, AND what these women have done about it.
She quotes individuals, such as Amartya Sen, on the benefits of empowering women (p 60, hardcover edition), talks about "building bridges" in Kenya (110) with women as the peace educators, Swanee Hunt (111) "....Women think long and hard before they send their children out to kill other peoples' children" Of note is the passage (113) about the women who participated, during the post-apartheid transition, in the South African Truth and Reconciliation Committee which "has become model for societies facing similar transitions"..
Networking among women of power, as described in Ms Myer's book-- in addition to being a great "buddy system" is definitely the way to benefit from mistakes, exchange ideas, gain knowledge and information. But what about women in lesser positions-- women (holding more than one job, in many cases, with a family to take care of as well) who have no career other than the "grunt" work they do for minimum or subsistence wages, or women who are unemployed / on welfare and are trying to put some direction in their lives but who do not have a network like these professional women do? Ms Myers needs to consider addressing this, because not only is it an epidemic of lack -- that needs to be healed - but these are the women who (and their daughters as well) could be future leaders, if given the recognition, the self-empowerment, and the opportunities for advancement.
Yes - women SHOULD create "their own story lines" (225) to "rewrite history". But how complete is their raw material???
If Ms Myers is familiar with this book: "If They Only Listened to Us - What Women Voters Want Politicians to Hear" she will note the huge communication gap that appears to exist throughout this country between women - from those who are on welfare, on up to those who have careers and political clout in their communities. The former group struggles to make their needs known to those in power - the latter do not. Would having women in top positions guarantee that the needs of every woman in this widely diverse group will be heard AND addressed? Look at Rita Levi Montalcini--an Italian Nobel Prize winner (science) who at the age of 94, (2001) was creating opportunities for women in poverty stricken lands to achieve their goals of education and careers in Science. Women in power should actively seek out and address the genuine needs of other women - in their country and others.
I do not agree with what I perceive to be Ms Myer's advice that women need to be Assertive rather than Aggressive. I make no excuses for my aggression. I believe that Aggression and Assertiveness in the same person (male OR female) DO mix, just as I believe that a timid or a quiet person's presentation of their opinion or advice is as valid as a forceful presentation. I'm also at odds with what she considers men's testosterone-fueled inclination to violence. It starts with the family--Raise both genders of kids to recognize empathy and compassion as two of the greatest powers in this world, teach them to reach out to others from an early age, and find out what they are doing in their spare time ("hacking into the NY Times"?? - re: Shirley Tilghman Page 165) - will help to build a decent kid, male or female, mold them to become the generation that will help heal the world.
Is Ms Myers acquainted with some of the lesser known, but equally notable women of the 19th century who lived as they wanted to, inspiring those around them with their valor and determination? Women like Nellie Cashman, who settled in the Wild West during the California Gold Rush -- owned saloons, hotels, restaurants, raised orphans, helped build her community and then left to mine diamonds in Africa, and then, in her 70's, to pan for gold in the Arctic Circle? Or how about "Albert Cashier" (Jennie Hodger) - a valorous Civil War Veteran (Union) who received a pension until the end of her life? Or Rosetta Wakeman, who also fought for the Union (as Private Lyons Wakeman). What about some of the women of Ancient Rome, Greece and Persia/India, who owned property and were part of the ruling class of that time? What about the lists and biographies of notable women since the beginning of recorded history - in bound books and on the Internet? Knowledge of this is empowering. And of course, there is Victoria Woodhull, stockbroker, suffragette, and founder of two newspapers, who ran for President (even though women could not vote at that time) in 1872. These women are role models as surely as their contemporaries are nowadays. But what if any of their history is taught regularly in schools today? What, if any of this, is known by the average woman / the schoolgirl / the female CEO or University president, the woman on welfare or the woman who holds a position of leadership? Will you, Ms Myers-- consider addressing this in your next book?
|
|
|
