Probably in Beijing, but far longer than five years ago, Mao Zedong said, Women hold up half the sky. An inspired sentiment, but he didn t carry it far enough.
Women hold up so much more.
The ancient Greeks had a similar image, of Atlas holding the earth on his shoulders, but they got the gender wrong. The mother in the refugee camp, wondering where to find food, clean water, and her missing husband. The woman taking her only cow out to pasture in a field she knows is infested with landmines, risking life, limb and livelihood, because she has no choice. The mother looking for someone she trusts to watch over her children while she looks for a job so she can feed them. The woman risking her reputation, her career, and, in some cultures, even her life by striving to serve her country in public office.