4 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Being born into a very traditional Italian family where her father was in charge of making all the decisions and the money. She grew up being told that everything her brother did was always right and that she was good when she followed her father’s wishes and bad when she dared to criticise or go against his wishes. She was fortunate that she wasn’t born in Southern Italy where it was stricter again.

It was this upbringing that made her a feminist from an early age; she abhorred the injustice of the discrimination against her purely because of her gender with no logical reason behind it. It would be the driving force that gave her a degree in political science and the desire to study the history behind the oppression of women.  It is that same drive that has given us this book about how she thinks that women should and can take over the world.

In justifying her arguments she takes us on a whirlwind tour through the area that she thinks that women can make a significant difference. Beginning with diplomacy, an art that is often subject to much animosity and posturing between men, she tells us some of the stories where women have been appointed to these roles and the success they have had. Not being afraid of controversy, her second chapter is on religion and how the myriad of rules and regulations have been used to repress women over time.

Women have long been expected to do the most tedious and menial of jobs for the home and at the workplace. In here, Diana argues that women need to gain more control of their lives through work by pushing for their rights and getting more economic independence. The way to do this is to ensure that all girls have equal rights to education and these things will follow in due course. She also says that we need to get more women into STEM careers. Not only do these pay better, but we as a global society need their perspective on solving technological problems in the coming years.

Whilst women have more rights and freedoms in Western countries, in other parts of the world they still are suffering from oppression. She writes about women who suffer in Albania, how New Delhi in India is the rape capital of the world and how in China a lot of pregnancies are terminated when they find it is a girl. She includes a list of some of the cruelties that women suffer across the world. In parts of Africa, genital mutilation is still carried out. She writes about how women across the world must support those that are still seen as minority or second class citizens. There is a chapter about how far we have come in the UK, but also how far we still have to go.

Gender equality is starting to move higher up the agenda in some places, but in a lot of the world, it isn’t even on the agenda. In this book, Diana argues that we need to make it a priority to help those that aren’t even enjoying the benefits that some of their compatriots are. It is an interesting book and I must say that I agree with a lot of what she had to say. The writing is plain and straightforward if a little clipped at times, but she wants to get across her points as efficiently as she can. Definitely worth a read.

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