Redefining Having It All celebrates the beautiful diversity of real women’s ambition globally

Learn more: Redefining Having it All: What I Learned from Women in 12 Countries in 12 Months

Since the phrase, “having it all” was coined over forty years ago, it has gone from a galvanizing feminist mantra to a cloyingly idealistic trope. Why?

Redefining Having It All explores women around the world, across a variety of cultures, circumstances, and conditions.

What does having it all look like in cultures different from our own? What are women’s hopes, dreams, and ambitions? What are the challenges for women with unequal rights and opportunities? 

What do women—young, old, single, married, divorced, moms, and childless—share in their journeys on opposite sides of the globe? And what can we learn from their stories to redefine having it all for women today? 

Curious, I decided to go in search of perspectives that would challenge the stereotypes and standards for women. I traveled to twelve countries in twelve months, interviewing over a hundred women ages eighteen to eighty in Singapore, Myanmar, India, Mexico, Italy, Uruguay, Argentina, Sweden, The Netherlands, England, Liberia, and the United States.

As I stood on bustling streets, subway platforms, malls, parks, beaches, and canals, I got to know women through a single question: “What does ‘having it all’ mean to you?” 

Redefining Having It All calls women to keep our ears, eyes, and hearts open. Let us reclaim our own paths, not the ones that are chosen for us. And let’s redefine having it all to reflect the beautiful diversity for real women everywhere.

These stories redefine the notion of having it all by real women around the world today.

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Having it All is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that supports female empowerment through celebrating the beautiful diversity of women’s ambition globally.