Goddess Shift: Women Leading for a Change

Edited by Stephanie Marohn
Elite Books (2010)
ISBN 9781600700675
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (03/10) 

Women are supposed to be the weaker sex, or so I remember being taught in school many years ago. Having grown up some, I’ve often been either amused or exasperated by that description. While it is true that throughout history women were oftentimes pushed into the background, their presence nevertheless was always vital for the success of just about any endeavor their male counterparts decided to take part in. Furthermore, it does seem to me that the present times have brought a real change in that particular equation and nowadays women are found in key leadership roles in every field imaginable, whether it is arts, politics, science, sports, industry or anything else you could think of. While I’ve often heard young women complain that they do not have any real female roles models, I’ve tended to disagree with that and it really pleased me when I discovered “Goddess Shift,” an anthology devoted to strong, wise and powerful women of today, represented by forty-three fascinating and extremely diverse ladies who are shaping and changing the world we live in.

The essays in this brilliant collection range from inspirational to sentimental, from rather reserved, deeply personal to visionary and daring. Reading through them my mood shifted from moved to amused, from astonished and bewildered to admiring and feeling really empowered. I’ve met a lot of old “friends” - women who made me rethink what was possible for a female to achieve back when I was growing up, women whom I’ve admired and respected for decades now. Through reading “Goddess Shift” edited by Stephanie Marohn, I’ve met a number of voices new to me, who made me decide to look deeper into what the ladies whom those voices belong to are doing to change the world.