In US Election, Women Won Big

The 2020 United States election has left a lot up in the air and voters around the country wait anxiously for final results, especially for the presidential race. However, we don’t need to wait to know that women around the country shattered barriers and won several big victories. 

From women of color taking (or keeping) elected positions to women’s roles in moving the needle in countless ways, ladies led the way. It has been an election of firsts: the first Black and South Asian woman nominated or elected Vice President, the first openly transgender woman elected state senator, the first woman elected mayor in Miami-Dade County, the first Republican women elected to the House in both Iowa and South Carolina, Wyoming’s first female senator, the first Black congresswoman elected in Missouri, and many more milestones. No matter your political leanings, this has been an election of broken barriers. Read on for more details on how women are leading.

Record Number of Native American Women Elected to Congress, from The Guardian—“According to a Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) report, 18 indigenous women were running for congressional seats this year – a record in a single year.”

Women Have Made History in the 2020 Election, from Elle—“Before any races were even called this November, women had made history. A record number of women ran for office in 2020—surpassing the record set just two years prior. More Republican women ran for U.S. House seats than ever before, and a number of women were poised to bring new representation to the halls of Congress and to their state legislatures.”

New Mexico Makes History, Becomes First State to Elect All Women of Color to the House, from People—“New Mexico is now the first state with a House delegation comprised entirely of women of color. […] All of the six major party candidates who ran in New Mexico’s House races were women.”

All 4 Members of ‘The Squad’ Reelected to House, from CNN—“All four congresswomen known as the Squad—Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts—have won reelection, CNN projects. Since taking office in January 2019, the lawmakers, all women of color, have electrified the left’s progressive base and lit up social media.”

Kamala Harris Makes History As the First Woman to Become Vice President, from Vox—“Harris has made history: No woman has ever served as vice president or president in the US. Her election to the office — and the representation she brings — is significant for many voters. […] Harris’s nomination for this role was groundbreaking. As the new vice president, Harris could play a major role in shaping policies and priorities for a Biden administration, while sending a strong message about what’s possible for other women and people of color.”

Honoring, Uplifting, and Supporting Rural Women

Ever since International Day of Rural Women on Oct. 15, we’ve been seeing even more than usual about the incredible women doing the bulk of our world’s rural work, including indigenous women and women in countries around the globe working in difficult conditions. Rural women keep our agriculture, economies, and indeed us running. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, rural women face increasing challenges; including access to health care, increased pressure during the pandemic, medical needs, and more. Still, rural women continue to work on the front lines. We've collected just a few stories about rural women--their amazing and tireless work; the unique challenges they face right now; their initiative and innovation; how they're changing and uplifting the world, and how we might all help support their needs, advocacy, and lives. Read on for more, and keep supporting our rural women and their power and work.

Speakers: COVID-19 Unfolded Opportunities for Rural Women to Act as Agents of Change, from The Nation—“The platform of rural women conference served as a place where voices of the representatives from over 100 districts of the country raised concerns for an inclusive response to manage disasters like the way Corona pandemic played unprecedented havoc with the local communities here in Pakistan.”

In Costa Rica, Rural Women Grow Their Own Businesses, from UNDP—“The recovery from COVID-19 and the safe path to Sustainable Development must have women and nature-based solutions at its centre if we are to emerge stronger and better from the challenges we face as humanity. This involves transforming the social norms of gender imposed by culture, norms that make invisible the role of women as essential agents of conservation, and their leading role in reducing the loss of nature”

Invest in Rural Women, Help Them Build Resilience to Future Crises, Urges UN Chief, from UN News—“Rural women play a critical role in agriculture, food security and managing land and natural resources - yet many suffer from ‘discrimination, systemic racism, and structural poverty,’ the UN chief said on Thursday.”

Opinion: The Name Game: How Women Get Erased in Rural India, from Thomson Reuters—“In rural villages, one can easily find women who have their husband’s name tattooed on their wrist. However, even if her husband’s name is stitched on her flesh, most often a woman does not say his name aloud. Traditionally, a husband is a godly figure and saying his name is considered disrespectful.”

Mobilizing Rural Women for a Food-Secure Future, from Politico—“As the world grapples with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and looks at how to address other pressing challenges such as climate change and feeding a growing global population, it is more important than ever to mobilize the entire rural workforce — especially women — in ensuring a food-secure future.”

Celebrating Girls on International Day of the Girl and All Year Long

Yesterday was International Day of the Girl. This year’s theme, “My Voice, Our Equal Future,” focused on  “the opportunity to be inspired by what adolescent girls see as the change they want, the solutions—big and small—they are leading and demanding across the globe.”

We work to honor and uplift women every day, but we also passionately support girls and are inspired by their work, ideas, and the powerful women they’re growing into. That’s why—even though it’s the day after International Day of the Girl—we’re taking today to recognize, support, and empower (not to mention honor the power of) girls, and we’re calling for everyone to do so all year long. We’re looking at issues that threaten and challenge girls, deeper conversations and the continuing dialogue about advocacy for girls, resources to help, and year-round inspiration from amazing girls around the world.

How You Can Celebrate International Day of the Girl and Raise a Leader, from Forbes—“After almost twenty years of doing this work, I want us to stop teaching our girls the importance of being pretty, polite, and likable. I wonder what preschools and elementary schools would look like if our girls with the pressure to be brave, funny, and smart.”

Michelle Obama and Malala Yousafzai in Conversation for International Day of the Girl, from Teen Vogue—“Joining the indomitable pair is Priya Mondol, a 17-year-old student in Kolkata, India, for whom their work is personal. Priya faced obstacles to getting an education, but with the help of Her Future Coalition, an organization supported by the Girls Opportunity Alliance, she's able to keep learning during this challenging time. She joined Mrs. Obama and Malala to discuss the importance of developing resilience and to share insights about girls’ education and empowerment in advance of the Day of the Girl.”

How Shouting, Finger-Waving Girls Became Our Conscience, from The New York Times—“While aggression in women remains suspect, the public is drawn, now more than ever, to girls who reproach and rebuke, calling the world to account for its ills — and girls in turn are learning to harness that public gaze to effect larger change.”

International Day of the Girl Child, from the World Health Organization—“The 2020 theme of International Day of the Girl is “My voice, our equal future.” This is a striking call to recognize girls’ inheritance of the still-unfinished Beijing Agenda, their expertise on the challenges they face especially for their sexual and reproductive health and rights, and their limitless capacity as change-makers. To commemorate the day, WHO co-organized a virtual intergenerational dialogue between girl advocates and high-level leaders about putting girls and their rights at the centre of decision-making processes.”

How You Can Help on International Day of the Girl, from Refinery29—“Worldwide, nearly 1 in 4 girls aged 15–19 years is neither employed nor in education or training. And by 2021, nearly 435 million women and girls will be living on less than $1.90 a day—including 47 million pushed into poverty as a result of COVID-19, also according to the UN. In addition to those startling numbers, 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence. And since the pandemic began, violence against women and girls has become even more intense. [...] There are plenty of community-based initiatives working to solve these issues and more for girls.”

In Defense of Celebrity Feminism

newrepublic.com - Celebrities are our pantheon, these works argue, and their stories are our collective cultural myths. Since we spend hours and years of our lives absorbing them, when we talk about them, why not take them seriously? And if we don’t see our personal canon among the figures that the culture keeps telling us are iconic, what’s to stop us from claiming space for our own icons among their ranks? Massey’s book grew out of her viral Buzzfeed essay, 2015’s “Being a Winona in a World Made for Gwyneths.” In the piece, she wrote about mapping herself onto the wild, messy, dark-hearted and dark-haired archetype that Winona Ryder represents, in contrast to Gwyneth Paltrow’s anodyne commitment to being inoffensively bland—and, well, blonde. All the Lives I Want is on the one hand an examination of the cultural context in which we understand female celebrities’ stories. But it’s also a confession of Massey’s own complex imaginings of their inner lives, and how they help her imagine and understand the complexity of her own.

Read more here.

Harvard Law Review elects its 1st black female president

nytlive.nytimes.com - ImeIme Umana, the first black woman to be elected president of the 130-year-old Harvard Law Review, at Gannett House on campus in Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 15, 2017. (Tony Luong/The New York Times) ImeIme Umana, a 24-year-old Harvard Law student, has been elected president of the Harvard Law Review, one of the most prestigious legal journals in the world. As The New York Times reports, Umana is the first black woman to hold the title in the publication’s 130-year-history. (Twenty-seven years ago, the Harvard Law Review elected its first black, male president: a promising student named Barack Obama.)

Umana secured the coveted position after a rigorous period of evaluation that spanned the course of two days. As president, she will preside over a team of editors at the student-run publication.

Presidents of the Harvard Law Review are effectively guaranteed their pick of jobs upon graduation, but Umana is not interested in high-paying sectors of the legal realm. She told the Times that she hopes to become a public defender — an aspiration that was sparked by her internship at a public defender’s office in the Bronx.

Read more here.

Survey Says: Women Leaders Want Flex Time, Balance, Engagement, Recognition

The latest Gallup study, "State of the American Workplace," has just been released, and it sheds light on trends and issues in American workplaces, as well as engagement across different demographics of the U.S. population. Our friends at Take the Lead bring us a primer on 12 of the study's most important takeaways concerning women leaders; including insights into women's need for balance, their talents in engagement, the importance of authenticity and flexibility, the role of leaders in shaping company culture and approaches in these and other areas, and much more. taketheleadwomen.com - Consider this the Cliff Notes version. The skimming has been done for you, saving you time reading the 214 pages of Gallup’s latest tome, “State of The American Workplace,” with what you need to know as women leaders.

Perhaps knowing where women leaders stand, we can work more efficiently toward the Take The Lead goal of achieving gender parity in leadership across all sectors by 2025.

We picked 12 key factors from the Gallup study facing women leaders in the workplace today. Here’s the gist:

We care about the balance. “Female employees are significantly more likely than male employees (60 percent vs. 48 percent, respectively) to say it is very important to them that their job allows greater work-life balance and better personal well-being. As organizations try to diversify their workforces and bring more women into a variety of roles, they cannot overlook the importance of work-life balance and personal well-being for this group of employees.”

We are more engaged with our work than men. “Female employees are more engaged than male employees and have been throughout Gallup’s history of tracking the metric; 36 percent of women engaged, compared to 30 percent of men. Women are more engaged than men in every type of job including management, professional, service and support jobs. In leadership roles, however, men are more engaged than women (50 percent vs. 35 percent).

by Michele Weldon

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For Women in The Workplace, Does Loving Your Job Matter?

We enjoyed this piece from Take the Lead on loving our jobs -- at least some of the time. How generous we are with others and even the perceptions we reinforce in our own minds, as well as traits like courage and resourcefulness, can help us see the best -- and do our best -- in almost any job. Another crucial element is leadership: If you're confident in the leadership at your company, you are more likely to love your job. It's a lesson workers and founders alike can keep in mind for happy, healthy workplaces. taketheleadwomen.com - Washington Post publisher and owner Katharine Graham reportedly once said, “To love what you do and feel that it matters, how can anything be more fun?”

Agreed, not all of us love our work every second of every day. Nor are most of us rushing off to the bathroom to weep or call a friend in a panic. Well, not every day.

You don’t have to love your job all the time, but you can try to love your job a lot of the time. So just how can you fall in love, or stay in love with your job, your work and your career?

Some experts say that starts with how you treat others.

“By giving others the benefit of the doubt, you’ll feel a lot happier at work because you won’t be held back by resentment or anger. Just think about how much easier it would be to get back to your work when your mindset changes from ‘My boss ignores everything I’m working on,’ to ‘My boss doesn’t micromanage me,’ according to The Muse.

And if you feel as if your boss or supervisor is competent, you are also more likely to like your job. Nothing like feeling you are a passenger on a runaway train to bring you down. Trusting that your manager knows what she is doing makes a huge difference in your happiness level.

by Michele Weldon

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Corporate Firms Joining Forces, Pledging To Work Toward Gender Equality In Their Companies By 2030 - GirlTalkHQ

It's great to see so many high-profile people and companies championing feminism, but women still face an uphill battle when it comes to seeing representation on boards and in the C-suite. Check out this article from Girl Talk HQ about Paradigm for Parity; a movement, tool kit, action plan and pledge encouraging businesses to address the gender gap in business leadership. Click through to read the whole article, including Paradigm for Parity's five action steps to help identify and combat bias in business, and ensure women have equal opportunity and an equal share of business leadership by 2030. girltalkhq.com - As much as we’d love to believe Beyoncé when she sings “Who run the world? Girls!” the truth is the exact opposite, especially when it comes to the corporate sector. Most companies would have no problem stating they are all for promoting gender equality, but if you looked at the people who make up their staff, you may see a different story.

The collective “Lean In” moment is still yet to happen, but the awareness of the gender gap is at the very least a start. So how do you move the needle to ensure greater representation of women in positions of leadership? One organization has come up with a list of 5 specific action steps that companies can take in order to put their money where their mouth it.

Paradigm for Parity is made up of a coalition of business leaders dedicated to addressing the corporate leadership gender gap. The coalition is made up of CEOs, senior executives, founders, board members, and business academics who have one common goal, to ensure women have equal status, power and opportunity by the year 2030. They want to see women holding at least 30% of top leadership roles in the corporate sector.

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6 Things We Can Thank Black Women For

By Korin Miller womenshealthmag.com -

The movie Hidden Figures is cleaning up during awards season (raking in $119 million in box office sales, according to ComScore), and critics have applauded the cast’s portrayal of the brilliant African-American women who helped launch astronauts into space in the early '60s.

The film is based on a true story, but you probably never heard about it at school. Unfortunately, the women who inspired Hidden Figures aren’t alone—there are many black women who contributed substantially to history and yet never got the widespread credit they deserved.

Here are just a few advances in modern history that we owe to black women:

The Right To Vote: Ida B. Wells     

We often associate the names Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony with women getting the right to vote, but the contributions of Ida B. Wells shouldn't be overlooked. Best known for her work in the early civil rights movement, Ida also started the Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago, which was the first African-American women’s suffrage organization, according to the Washington Post. In 1913 she attended the Women’s Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., despite white organizers telling her and other black women to march at the back of the line. She refused, and pushed her way to march at the front of her state’s delegation.

Home Security: Marie Van Brittan Brown

We take it for granted that we can spy on our pets while we’re at work and check out who’s ringing the door without stepping outside, but all of that became possible thanks to the inventiveness of Marie Van Brittan Brown. According to the New York Times, the nurse created a patented home surveillance device with her electrician husband in 1969. Their design enabled cameras to send images from peepholes to a single monitor so people could see who was outside the house. It became the basis for modern security systems.

Read more here.

She Persisted: Lessons For Women Leaders On Using Their Voices

taketheleadwomen.com - It’s already a t-shirt, in many different styles from multiple sources, plus it’s  a tote bag. One version is on amazon. Many benefit different organizations, from the Southern Poverty Law Center to the ACLU,  with styles that benefit their causes. “Nevertheless, she persisted,” has become the new mantra for women leaders of all convictions, ideologies and party lines, who want to make a difference, instigate change, build a movement, strive for parity, speak up and speak out.

After Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was silenced last week on the Senate floor in discussions concerning the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as attorney general, the words of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell became a Twitter hashtag of #ShePersisted, as well as spinoffs onto t-shirts and more.

McConnell was “invoking Rule 19, a rarely used chamber regulation that prohibits senators from impugning each other,” according to CNN. “’She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted,’ the Kentucky Republican said on the Senate floor, delivering an instantly classic line — the kind liberals imagine being replayed ad nauseum in TV ads in a future presidential campaign.”

Read more here.

Groundbreaking filmmaker, chef, scientists named to Women's Hall of Fame

usatoday.com - Ten more women who have "changed the course of American history" are joining the ranks of the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls. This year's inductees are:

• Matilda Raffa Cuomo, former first lady of New York, founder of Mentoring USA and an advocate for women, children and families. • Dr. Temple Grandin, animal scientist, author and champion of farm animal welfare. She designed livestock handling systems now used worldwide. • Lorraine Hansberry, playwright and civil rights activist. • Victoria Jackson, entrepreneur and advocate for women's empowerment. • Sherry Lansing, a filmmaker who was the first woman to head a major film studio. • Clare Boothe Luce, journalist, former war correspondent, U.S. congresswoman, U.S. ambassador. • Aimée Mullins, an amputee who excelled as an athlete, actor and motivational speaker. • Carol Mutter, first female three-star general in the U.S Marine Corps. • Dr. Janet Rowley, scientist and geneticist whose research established that some cancers are genetic diseases. • Alice Waters, chef and restaurateur who was a champion for organic foods and the local and sustainable food movement.

The announcement Tuesday was made at the Gould Hotel, just down the road from the Women's Rights National Historical Park.

Read more here.

100 Women, 100 Years And More Milestones For Women Leaders to Celebrate

taketheleadwomen.com - To properly salute the 100th edition of the Take The Lead This Week newsletter, we look outside of Take The Lead to gather a list of our favorite lists of women global leaders, healers, executives, entrepreneurs, funders, innovators, groundbreakers and cookie makers. We hope these may become some of your favorites too. To make the celebration of these groups of 100 go down more smoothly, we suggest a box or two of Girl Scout Cookies, celebrating the 100th year of sales helping girls from around the country “earn money for fun, educational activities and community projects, but also play a huge role in transforming girls into G.I.R.L.s (Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers, Leaders)™ as they learn essential life skills that will stay with them forever,” according to the site.

“From the very beginning the Girl Scout Cookie Program—and Girl Scout Cookies—has been the engine that powers Girl Scouts. The sale of Girl Scout Cookies has made an indelible impact on the millions of Girl Scout alumnae who have sold them. In fact, 57 percent of Girl Scout alumnae in business say the program was key in the development of their skills today.”

Read more here.

Fast Cars, Equal Pay: Audi Drives Controversy on Gender Parity Ad

taketheleadwomen.com - The hotly contested Audi television commercial premiering at The Super Bowl features a father mulling over how to tell his young daughter the financial facts of life. He asks if she knows that “despite her education, her drive, her skills, her intelligence, she will automatically be valued less than any man she ever meets?”

He then decides, “Or maybe I’ll be able to tell her something different,” and they head over to an Audi to drive off into the sunset of gender parity.

The spot is the work of Aoife McArdle, a female director, another anomaly in the advertising world, where fewer than 10 percent of the top commercial directors are female.

“The commercial closes with father and daughter embracing after the race and walking up to their shiny Audi S5 Sportback, because after all, it’s a car commercial. That doesn’t make the message about equality and progress any less moving and important, though. Additionally, Audi said it has pledged to ‘support ongoing commitment to women’s pay equality in the workplace and to foster a work environment that drives equality for all employees,’ according to a press release,” writes Tony Mervick in Thrillist.

While the genders are more equal than ever before, festive feminism is still needed - Global Times

globaltimes.cn - As families come together for Spring Festival, women and feminists of all kinds have taken the chance to challenge traditional views that they say perpetuate gender inequality in Chinese society. I have not seen my cousin Lin for 10 years.

Every year, she misses the family reunion during Spring Festival. Ever since she got married, she has dropped off the family's radar, giving herself entirely to her husband and her in-laws. Only occasionally do I hear about her from others.

I last saw her at her wedding, when I was in middle school. There she vowed to be a good wife and daughter-in-law and to be devoted to her new family. As far as I can make out, she has followed her vows to the best of her ability.

Another cousin told me a couple of years ago that she went to visit Lin at her husband's house during Spring Festival. It's only about an hour away by car from our hometown, yet that distance seems too great to travel during the holidays.

When she arrived, Lin was washing vegetables in the sink. She knew they would have guests and was busy preparing a meal. Her in-laws were sitting on the sofa watching TV, and her husband was nowhere to be found.

UN Gender Focus: gender equality, Somalia and youth

unmultimedia.org - Women should be able to "leapfrog" into evolving world of work The world of work is changing and women should be empowered to "leapfrog" into high-tech or green jobs in the future, the Deputy-Executive Director of UN Women has said. Lakshmi Puri shared this message with delegates at a multi-stakeholder forum on "Women's Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work". It is also the priority theme for the latest session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) taking place in March. Speaking to Jocelyne Sambira, Ms Puri also highlighted the structural barriers to gender equality and gender-based discrimination that persist within and across national boundaries.

A "massive, structural transformation" is needed to advance women's political representation in Somalia, a female member of parliament or MP has urged. Asha Gelle Dirie was appointed Chairperson of the Committee of Goodwill Ambassadors in the Horn of Africa country to help women secure 30 per cent of seats in the Federal Parliament. Women faced a tough battle in last year's election, she recently told members of the UN Security Council, but ultimately won 25 per cent of seats. Speaking to Vibhu Mishra, Ms. Dirie called for more logistical and financial support for women in politics to "even the playing field".

The poet behind the Statue of Liberty’s ‘Give me your tired, your poor’ stanza

nytlive.nytimes.com - As people took to the streets last weekend to protest President Donald Trump’s controversial order banning the admission of visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries, many held signs bearing the words that sit emblazoned on the placard beneath the Statue of Liberty. Speaking outside of the Supreme Court building on Monday evening, Nancy Pelosi, Democrat House minority leader, recited the most recognizable passage of the epithet: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” It was, she said, “a statement of values of our country. It’s a recognition that the strength of our country is in our diversity, that the revitalization constantly of America comes from our immigrant population.”

But while these words may have become synonymous with the American definition of liberty,

the author from whose pen they flowed is often overlooked.

When Emma Lazarus, a young, New York poet, was asked in 1883 to write a sonnet to be sold at auction, she could have had little idea that her poem would one day become so significant. The auction was being held to raise money for a base to hold up the Statue of Liberty — a lavish gift from France that few then found particularly inspiring — and Lazarus reluctantly agreed to contribute a sonnet called “The New Colossus,” verbalizing what she imagined the Statue of Liberty might be saying. Her words reflected the focus upon which her life’s writing had been dedicated — anti-Semitism and ethnic prejudice, and her strong advocacy for Jewish refugees fleeing massacre.

Saudi Arabia celebrates first ever Women’s Day to fight for gender equality

indianexpress.com - Sadly, it is the only country in the world that it prohibits women from driving. (Source: AP) Sadly, it is the only country in the world that it prohibits women from driving. (Source: AP) International Women’s Day is widely celebrated across the globe where people pledge their support for gender equality and celebrate the achievements of women and has become a regular event in the social calendar. Yet, many countries beyond this ambit and Saudi Arabia is one such nation where many basic rights are denied to its women. But in a great move, the orthodox country celebrated its first ever Women’s Day. The just concluded affair in Riyadh saw members of the royal family participating as well in a bid to fight for women’s rights.

ALSO SEE | WATCH: This viral song, ‘God, rid us of men!’ from Saudi Arabia is the new feminist anthem

“The three-day gathering, which was held from February 1 to 4 at the King Fahd Cultural Centre, featured talks from advocates of a woman’s right to drive, as well as other legal rights for women, including freedom of guardianship,” the Emirates Women said in a report.

EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE: 17 Campaigns for 17 Goals – Synergizing Campaigns for Agenda 2030

sustainability.thomsonreuters.com - Just 14 years remain to accomplish the Agenda 2030 and the world still does not know. As we completed the first year of the implementation of agenda 2030 for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, there is a greater need to harmonize campaigns contributing to SDGs. There is massive opportunity for the international development community to work together in solidarity using campaigns to forward SDGs. However, there is more focus on specific goals and targets rather than on the entire Agenda. If we continue to operate in silos, we lose sight of the big picture and end up fragmenting the Agenda, wasting resources and hindering progress. We must bear in mind that the goal of the international community is to ensure the achievement of all 17 SDGs by 2030. Instead of competing for advocacy space and much-needed resources, we must all take ownership of the Agenda as a whole and cohesively work together towards the attainment of the WorldWeWant by the year 2030. The following are good examples of campaigns for 17 goals, increasing collaboration and raising awareness on SDG achievement:

Video: Madame Gandhi Talks About The Intersection Of Music And Feminism

laist.com - Madame Gandhi performs during Global Citizen's 'Show Up and Vote' concert at the World Market Center on October 25, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for Global Citizen) Kiran Gandhi, otherwise known by her stage name Madame Gandhi, is a musician and activist. She lives in L.A., and first came to prominence as the drummer for M.I.A. In a new short film, she discusses how she approaches songwriting, how she advocates for feminism through songwriting, and choosing a wardrobe that prioritizes "self-expression" over beauty.

"My passions have always been the same since childhood. I've always loved music and I've always loved feminism," she says.

Gandhi still uses the same drum kit she received at 12 years old. In addition to her work with M.I.A., she has also produced her own music, releasing a five-song EP titled Voices in 2016. She discusses one track, "The Future is Female" in the film. "The lyrics are a direct commentary on the problems that I see today," she says, before quoting the song:

UN News - PHOTO FEATURE: International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

un.org - Fatima, 7, sits on a bed in her home in Afar region, Ethiopia. She was subjected to FGM/C when she was 1 year old. Photo: UNICEF/ Holt 6 February 2017 – While the exact number is unknown, at least 200 million girls and women in 30 countries throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia have been subjected to female genital mutilation, or FGM, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The World Health Organization (WHO) calls FGM a procedure that intentionally alters or causes injury to female genital organs for non-medical reasons. In lay terms, babies, girls and women are cut and their genitalia severed. WHO underscores that it not only provides no health benefits, but may lead to a life-time of obstacles. Furthermore, the majority of females who have been subjected to the practice are between infancy and age 15.

A young woman in an Ouagadougou clinic in Burkina Faso has undergone reconstructive surgery to repair the damage caused by female genital mutilation at age 6. Photo: UNICEF/ Nesbitt