赋能女性，释放成功
泰里·布兰斯塔德, 美国驻中国大使
今天是国际妇女节。有两位女性对我的人生产生了巨大的影响，那就是我的母亲丽塔·布兰斯塔德（Rita Branstad），以及我的老师劳拉·希维克（Laura Sewick）。我的母亲让我了解到良好的教育的重要性——“因为没人能把它拿走。”我的八年级老师希维克女士让美国历史变得生动有趣，激励了我毕生追求公共服务。我时常回想他们智慧的影响是如何让我的人生受益的。
在世界各地，女性每天都在起到这样的影响。当个人和国家移除障碍，让包括女性在内的所有社会成员充分参与时，个人和国家会受益。证据表明工作场所中男女人数更平均的国家有更多的增长、创新和稳定。相比之下，男女之间机会差距较大的国家也更有可能卷入暴力冲突。当社会移除通向机会的障碍——不管是性别障碍还是种族障碍亦或是宗教障碍，并且为所有人创造一个更加包容的环境时，社会会受益。美国已经取得巨大的进展，而且我们每天仍在努力拆除更多的障碍。
我亲身体验过增加性别包容性的价值。在大使馆这里我的高级顾问当中，我依靠数位卓越的女外交官，她们为美中关系贡献她们深厚的经验和高超的能力。另外一个例子是当我卸去州长旧职，成为驻华大使时，新任州长是金·雷诺兹（Kim Reynolds）——艾欧瓦州的首位女性州长。在任一年之后，雷诺兹州长的表现为她赢得了艾欧瓦州公民的支持，他们再次选举她出任下一个任期。女性当选高级别政府官员在我年轻时更加少见，在当今世界很多地方依旧少见或者甚者不可能。但是美国的民众今天受益，因为女性有越来越多的机会发掘她们的潜力并实现她们的梦想。
另外一个例子，上个月，整个世界都注意到，来自中国重庆的石之予（Domee Shi）执导动画短片《包宝宝》获得了奥斯卡奖。在众多荣誉中，评论员指出她是大型工作室的首批短片电影女导演之一，制作出了一部描绘母性的感人作品。其他评论员指出，她的华人背景给电影带来了独特的视角，能让全世界观众产生共鸣。石之予获得了奥斯卡奖，为她的行业创造了价值，体现了来自于多元化和女性赋能的创造性和创新性。
雷诺兹州长和石之予的例子成为了头条，但女性赋能的真正益处在全世界以更不为人知的方式累积。女性赋能意味着年轻的女学生能够安全地去上学，相信她会得到和男同学同样的待遇。女性赋能意味着女性企业家可以在和男性企业家竞争时，能平等地获得资源并发展她的企业。女性赋能意味着承认并在这种基本前提下行动：无论性别、族裔和种族，所有人都值得平等对待。
Empowering Women, Unleashing Success
Terry Branstad, U.S. Ambassador to China
Today is International Women’s Day. Two women who made a tremendous impact in my life are my mother, Rita Branstad, and my teacher, Laura Sewick. My mother drove home the importance of a good education, “because no one can take that away.” My eighth grade teacher, Ms. Sewick made American history come alive and inspired me to seek a life in public service. I regularly reflect on the ways their wise influence benefited my life.
Around the world, women have this type of influence every day. Individuals and countries benefit when they remove obstacles to full participation by all members of society, including women. The evidence shows that countries with a greater balance of men and women in the workplace have greater growth, innovation, and stability. In contrast, countries where the opportunity gap between men and women is larger are also more likely to be involved in violent conflict. Societies benefit when they remove barriers to opportunity—be they gender barriers or racial barriers or religious barriers—and instead create a more inclusive environment for all. The United States has made tremendous progress, and we still work every day to tear down more barriers.
I have personally experienced the value of increased gender inclusion. Among my senior advisors here at the Embassy I depend on several prominent female diplomats who lend their deep experience and superb abilities to U.S.-China relations. In another example, when I left my former post as governor to become Ambassador to China, the new governor became Kim Reynolds, the first female governor of Iowa. After a year in office, Governor Reynolds’ performance won her the support of the citizens of Iowa, who re-elected her to another term in office. The election of a woman to high government office was much more limited when I was young, and is still limited or even impossible in many parts of the world. Yet the people of the United States benefit today because women have increasing opportunities to realize their potential and achieve their dreams.
Another example, last month, the entire world took notice when Domee Shi, originally from Chongqing China, won an Academy Award for directing the short film Bao. Among other accolades, commentators pointed out she was one of the first female directors of a short film for a major studio, producing a touching portrayal of motherhood. Other commentators noted that Shi’s Chinese background brought a unique perspective to the film that connected with audiences worldwide. Domee Shi won an Oscar, created value for her industry, and showed the creativity and innovation that comes from diversity and women’s empowerment.
While the cases of Governor Reynolds and Domee Shi make headlines, the real benefits of women’s empowerment accrue in quieter ways around the world. Women’s empowerment means a young female student can go to school in safety, confident she will be treated the same as her male classmates. Women’s empowerment means a businesswoman can access resources and grow her business on equal footing with the businessmen against whom she competes. Women’s empowerment means recognizing and acting on the basic premise that all deserve to be treated equal regardless of gender, ethnicity, or race.
