Women Now and Then
I was telling a client of mine about how wonderfully aggressive I found women in China and Russia to be when she told me I should be writing my observations in my blog. I teach leadership classes all over the world. It will be fun sharing my views of how we are alike and how we differ. I can’t wait for you to add your comments as well.
I am on my way to Kazakhstan. I am excited about being able to report to you from there.
In the meantime, I think adding a bit of history in addition to geography might be just as interesting.
I want to share an experience from my last trip to Denmark. I had the chance to visit one of the most beautiful modern art museums in the world, the Louisiana. The building looks like an old plantation house sitting on beautiful grounds with fabulous sculptures like the attached picture. It is situated down the coast from Copenhagen facing the North Sea.
They had an exhibit on avant-garde female artists, designers and architects of the 1920s through the 1940s in Europe. Their courage to challenge both traditional art forms and life styles for women paralleled the women’s movement. Theirs were names I never heard of…Dora Maar (influenced by her lover, Picasso), Germaine Dulac (experimental film-maker and progressive writer on the social impact of films), Sonia Delaunay (a true “colorist” in both art and fashion design), Florence Henri (amazing photographer of women clothed and nude), Hannah Hoch (a driving force in the Dada movement), and Sophie Taueber-Arp (a courageous art activist).
Please look at the links I provided. They paint short stories or provide samples of the amazing work each of these women dedicated their lives to. They were committed to expressing themselves in a world that rarely listened to women. They exemplified the power, grace and potential of women. They believed in finding and sharing their authenticity and passion. I think you will be inspired getting to know these amazing women.
In the United States, we often think the women’s movement started here. Not true. Activism, and laws on equal rights, started in Western Europe and the UK before we raised the flag. We still lag behind Europe and other parts of the world in the numbers of women leaders both in business and government. Maybe it’s time we get curious about women in the world today and in the past.
I hope to stir your interest by sharing what I learn.
Please comment if you have stories and insights to share, too.
