The Girl Effect?: Explorations of Women’s Empowerment in the 21st Century

• In Event: The Globalization of Microfinance and the Promise of "Change"?

Abstract

In the post 9/11 milieu there has been a deluge of media attention towards subaltern women. One such example of this is the Half the Sky Movement, based off Nicolas Kristof’s and Sheryl WuDunn’s book. With its focus on sex trafficking, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality, the authors argue that education and microfinancing are a panacea. The book’s popularity among Western women garnered great traction in 2009 and is still widely read. Drawing from feminist postcolonial studies, this study employs focus groups to examine how readers of the book interpret Half the Sky. It asks: How do Western women describe global female empowerment after reading this text? Findings suggest that women tend to see the value of feminism but know little about how Western countries aid in creating neoliberal systems of global hegemony. This paper concludes by comparing its findings with research that problematizes microfinancing as a solution for poverty.

Author

• Erika M Behrmann, Bowling Green State U