It’s been almost three years since the publication of the groundbreaking book,
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.
Have you read it?
If not, skedaddle on over to your favorite book shop and pick up a copy.
Today.
It’s not just a book.
It’s action,
evolution,
momentum.
From the seeds of the book sprouted a PBS television series, which branched into websites, blogs, art exhibitions, music, and a social media tour-de-force.
Like I said, this thing is on a roll.
The latest limb in the Half the Sky mega-movement is deceptively diminutive:
A game.
On Facebook.
Sounds trivial, right?
But when you consider the multitudes of Facebook members worldwide, a game to engage people in women’s issues is nothing short of
GENIUS.
The book and TV series attracted attention from those who already care about the challenges facing women around the globe, says the book’s co-author Nicholas Kristof. But the Facebook game is intended to reach those who don’t yet know the gravity of the problem.
Half the Sky Movement: The Game introduces you to a fictional character named Radhika, described as “a simple woman from India who wants to make things better … for both herself and women worldwide.”
From Radhika’s perspective, you set off on a series of quests, facing issues and making choices that many women must deal with daily in terms of health care, education, meager income, gender bias, family matters, personal safety, and so on.
The game begins in Radhika’s home country of India, and from there you travel to Kenya, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and the United States, eventually becoming a global leader and a role-model for women worldwide.
“I hope that it will lead people to some degree to think about that perspective and the choices—often impossible choices—that women like [Radhika] face every day,” says Kristof.
Along the way, you encounter opportunities to unlock real-life donations from sponsors that reflect the important issues portrayed in the game, and you can also choose to donate directly to the game’s nonprofit partners, including The Fistula Foundation, GEMS, Heifer International, ONE, Room to Read, The United Nations Foundation, and World Vision.
Here’s the game trailer:
I am not on Facebook, but I do closely follow the global movement of women becoming empowered to start up businesses and take free online university classes. It is so important, I believe, for the chains of discrimination and suppression that women still experience to be broken for good. Our world will be all the better when women everywhere are treated as equals and allowed to set laws and sit at the table where important decisions are made everyday that effect the lives of families and nations.
I’m on Facebook (and into many FB games). I’m going to give this a try!