Equality of Women and Men: A New Book by Reynaldo Pareja

Reynaldo Pareja of Belize has recently released a book about the equality of women and men, available both in English and Spanish. Titled Equality of Women and Men: An Unstoppable Evolution of Humanity, Reynaldo’s book seeks to address the fact that “we are just beginning to be witnesses of the potential that women have and can foresee the brilliant future they are going to create for humanity.” The book is both informative, and a call to action. I was able to find out a bit more about this book from Reynaldo and here is what he shared with us:

Baha’i Blog: Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I have a PhD in Communication and Sociology from the École des Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris. I also hold a Masters in Communication by Cornell University as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Art and Literature from Universidad Javeriana, in Bogota, Colombia.

I worked for 27 years in public health educational programs in Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Asia. I am now retired and dedicated to writing books for the propagation of the Baha’i Faith in Belize, Central America.

Baha’i Blog: What inspired you to put this book together?

The main motivation for writing Equality of Women and Men: An Unstoppable Evolution of Humanity sprang from the Baha’i Teachings that are so clear that this to become a worldwide movement if we ever going to achieve some form of planetary peace. Women are called to participate, on equal terms, in all aspects of the political, social, economic, educational, arts and sports of present day society. They are called by Baha’u’llah to become main actors in humanity’s evolution and when they are able to do so, war will cease.

Baha’i Blog: What’s something that you learned during the process of putting this book together?

I have learned many things because the topic is so vast and complex. Women did not “accidentally” become subordinated to men. Historical dynamics, cultural beliefs, the development of social structure, religious beliefs on how men and women were created, economic barriers, legal prohibitions to women’s participation in the civil and political arena, control of income resources and barriers to education: all these factors (and more), when put into a historical perspective, show how powerful the subjection of women has been. Women were born without basic human rights, without a voice to express their point of view, without the necessary access to participate in the development of world society in which they have an absolute essential role to play.

Baha’i Blog: What do you hope people will take away from this book?

I hope people will take away an eye opener in understanding why such contingent social, economic, religious and cultural factors were able to strip women all over the world of their basic human rights. I do hope men are able to acknowledge the role they have played in creating this inequality and desire to accept the invitation to become champions in the struggle to give women their inherent equality status that we have for so long denied to them.

Baha’i Blog: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

My desire is that the book will contribute to stimulate a rich dialogue between women and men to find solutions to millennium ingrained stereotypes of how women are and should behave in order to allow them to bloom to their full capacity, starting in their families.

Baha’i Blog: Thank you, Reynaldo! If you’d like to purchase a copy of ‘Equality of Women and Men: An Unstoppable Evolution of Humanity’, you can find it here on Amazon. You can also find Reynaldo’s e-books, in both English and Spanish, on iTunes, Kobo.com and Google Play.

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Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.