My mother’s strange definition of empowerment

JANUARY 29, 2015

TODAY’S TED TALK Khadija Gbla: My mother’s strange definition of empowerment 18:40 minutes · TEDxCanberra Khadija Gbla grew up caught between two definitions of what it means to be an “empowered woman.” While her Sierra Leonean mother thought that circumsizing her — and thus stifling her sexual urges — was the ultimate form of empowerment, her culture as a teenager in Australia told her that she deserved pleasure and that what happened to her was called “female genital mutilation.” In a candid and funny talk, she shares what it was like to make her way in a “clitoris-centric society,” and how she works to make sure other women don’t have to figure this out. (Warning: This talk contains hard-to-hear details.) Watch now » PLAYLIST OF THE DAY The importance of educating girls In far too many countries around the world, an education is not a given for girls. These moving talks are from those facing great risk to change that. Watch » 4 talks · Total run time 56:07