Book Review Women Who Win

Women Who Win: Celebrating courage, conviction and change by Antoinette Lattouf

My Goodreads rating: 5 of 5 stars

Winter is Brisbane is starting to recede and cold wind and foggy windowpanes are starting to clear so I have come out of literary hibernation to complete a blog post I started months ago. Here it is in an unrefined state but hopefully quite clear.

Several years ago this Antoinette Lattouf book would have speared me through the heart like a flaming arrow and lit me up like a Christmas tree. Instead it merely interests me with its powerful women, powerful convictions, staggering stories and the serious need for ongoing change. Now I am older and wiser (from the Germaine Greer generation) I can see that our male dominated society is never truly going to change for the better. Remember that ‘Make love not war.’ slogan? Antoinette Lattouf is fired up way beyond slogans. Her input is strong, the message is quite clear. Follow up is essential. There are probably some really good guys out there if I look hard enough but do I have the inclination? Hopefully bit by bit women will equal the balance in centuries to come but today I found this powerfully eloquent book depressing in the fact that I have read similar exposé styles and discovered that nothing truly alters the unpardonably unbalanced status quo.

Lattouf’s Chapter 7 Page 191 ‘Slander Slam Dunks’ is particularly enraging and almost a form of courtroom gladiator sport. While there are inspirational examples, there is a perpetual disparity which most women live with throughout their lives. During an office job interview I was told by the manager that I would probably have a baby and resign. That still infuriates years later, although I declined his ‘offer’ and got a better paid job. Help and guidance is key to celebrating Courage, Conviction, Change and with insights from writers like Antoinette Lattouf bringing inequality to the fore once again.
Will males read this book? Surely men have the attention span to grasp its influential construct and accept Women Do Win.

📚 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2026

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For the love of books! Creator Michelle Hutton of Beenleigh Quilters at Brisbane Craft & Quilt Fair in Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 2024 *© image Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2024*

Brené Brown ‘Keeping it Awkward, Brave and Kind’

Brené Brown https://brenebrown.com/ -:- Artwork © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2023

What if..? Jade Hameister’s Challenge

Jade Hameister Polar Skier and Sandwich — Jade Hameister Polar Skier (Image Credit: @jadehameister)

“What if young women around the world were encouraged to be more, rather than less? What if the focus shifted from how we appear, to the possibilities of what we can do?”

Quote from Jade Hameister – world record-breaking polar skier.

When told to “make me a sandwich” by a number of male internet trolls in response to her TED talk, Hameister made one, posted a picture of herself with the sandwich at the South Pole and captioned the photo:

“I made you a sandwich (ham & cheese), now ski 37 days and 600 kilometres to the South Pole and you can eat it.”

Jade Hameister OAM (born 5 June 2001) is an Australian woman who, age 16, became the youngest person in history to pull off the “polar hat-trick”, ski to the North and South Poles, and cross the second largest polar icecap on the planet: Greenland. Wikipedia.