On Taboos and Women’s Health
This week I’m working at Women Deliver in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - here’s an excerpt from a piece for UN Dispatch:
The hidden subtext of the Women Deliver 2013 Conference in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, the largest global health event of the decade, is all about breaking taboos: Taboos about women and power, about sex, about relationships between men and women, and about the role of global institutions in quite simply talking about sexual health.
According to Marie Stopes International, 222 million women around the world have an unmet need for family planning. Access to this care would prevent unnecessary deaths and reduce poverty.
The consensus of over 4,000 highly educated and sensible people that “Reproductive health is a human right” feels revolutionary to an American in our current political climate. But at Women Deliver, family planning is depoliticized. Everyone here addresses sexual and reproductive health and rights as absolutely key to the health of global economies.
The connection between a healthy and economically sustainable planet and sexual and reproductive health is clear, proven again and again by data, but difficult to discuss, in almost every country.
Being in the Wall St Journal
A personal bucket list item for me: my advice in the Wall St Journal. Humbling and crazy, but maybe not such bad advice. Happy Mother’s Day!
When I say “working mother,” what image pops into your head? It’s probably not a joyful one. It’s probably a stressed out, barely holding it together mom on the run. Close your eyes and you can see her, sprinting and muttering to herself. It’s a cultural image that runs deep.
But when you are a leader you must set the tone for your work. You are the model. This perception cascades down to your team, your clients, your partner and your children.
Blooming Boomer Blogosphere
I’ve had an amazing time working with AARP and getting to know the incredible women who are reshaping the blogosphere. In a recent piece for the Harvard Business Review I explore the word beyond mommybloggers:
“We buy stuff too.” That’s the rallying cry I’ve heard from widely read female bloggers over age 49, who are frustrated that a well-established cadre of younger women with young children — known as “mommybloggers” — garner extensive promotional contracts with major brand advertisers, while Boomer-aged women online are often ignored.
What marketers seem to be missing is that Boomer women are actually outspending younger generations online — and not on the products that might come to mind when you picture the 50+ set. Boomers averaged $650 spent online vs. Gen X at $581 and Gen Y at $429, according to Forrester Research. They are buying beauty products, electronics, experiences, vacations, and health products.
To make sense of the confluence of disposable income and increasing online time among this generation and what it means for marketers, I’ve drawn on my own experience and the rise of the mommyblogger.
Women and Negotiating: Helpful Tactics
Love this and love seeing my former advisor Hannah Riley Bowles rock it on the Katie Show!!
When your boss or a client gives your work a rave review, do you often find yourself shunning the accolades? Or giving all of the credit to your team or colleagues? Though we’re taught to be modest, such a level of humility isn’t always beneficial in the workplace — especially when our male colleagues are much more likely to fully accept praise.
Check out this clip from Katie Couric’s show on improving your negotiation skills as a woman (featuring Sheryl Sandberg, Linda Babcock, Hannah Riley Bowles!).
http://www.katiecouric.com/videos/women-negotiation-at-work/
Social Media for Social Good: #GivingTuesday Results
#GivingTuesday was November 27-read all about this amazing day in Morra’s piece in the Harvard Business Review:
#GivingTuesday had its share of cynics. They objected mostly to two things: First, as a social media marketing campaign, it risked being a PR stunt that did very little for increasing charitable donations or actions. Second, that staging a national day of giving would “cannibalize” traditional end of year giving. I can only address the first point here, as the second remains to be seen.
Take the fundraising firm Blackbaud, which processed $10 million in online donations on inaugural #GivingTuesday — a massive 53% increase when compared to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving the previous year. Or #GivingTuesday partner Panthera, whose VP Andrea Heydlauff reports ”We received over 450 individual donations, amounting to just over $300,000… So far over 40% are new donors. This has surpassed all of our expectations on so many levels and is truly a memorable and perhaps the most significant event in our fundraising history.”
About Me
Morra Aarons-Mele is the founder of digital marketing agency Women Online, and its online marketing network The Mission list Read her full bio >>
Recent Posts
- On Taboos and Women’s Health
- Being in the Wall St Journal
- Blooming Boomer Blogosphere
- What’s been left out of the Lean In Discussion: Caregiving
- Women and Negotiating: Helpful Tactics
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