Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: Meet the women fighting on the front lines of an American war
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: Conozcan a las mujeres que lucharon en el frente de una guerra americana
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon writes about women around the world living their lives at war and in conflict zones. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
has the funny one,
hay una divertida,
when you need a good cry,
necesitas llorar,
when you've had a hard day.
cuando has tenido un mal día.
of groundbreaking women
de mujeres pioneras
then friends, and then family --
después amigas, y después familia--
Operaciones Especiales.
whose friendship and valor was cemented
amistad y valor fueron consolidados
and done at the tip of the spear,
hecho al filo de la navaja,
officially, at least --
oficialmente--
de que existían.
with Special Operations leaders,
de Operaciones Especiales,
in the United States military, saying,
de los Estados Unidos, diciendo,
a librar esta guerra."
to the end of its wars," it argued.
guerra," expusieron.
and more understanding."
y comprensión."
in a community and in a home,
en una comunidad y en un hogar,
Southern Afghanistan,
men could not talk to women,
hablar con mujeres,
and traditional society like Afghanistan,
y conservadora como Afganistán,
mujeres allí.
that the women who would be recruited
mujeres que iban a ser reclutadas
and Navy SEALs,
y al Equipo SEAL,
experienced by less than five percent
a menos de un cinco por ciento
Estados Unidos.
Become a part of history.
Sean parte de la historia.
on the battlefield in Afghanistan."
del campo de batalla en Afganistán."
wanted to do something that mattered
habían querido hacer algo importante
for their country,
it was about serving with purpose.
se trataba de servir con un objetivo.
to North Carolina
Carolina del Norte
en estos equipos
on the Special Operations front lines,
línea de las Operaciones Especiales
very quickly a community,
rápidamente una comunidad,
and as fit as they were,
tan cualificadas como ellas,
for who they were,
por quienes eran,
was that all of a sudden,
estuvieron allí fue que de repente,
around and realized
darte cuenta
than one giraffe at the zoo."
jirafa en el zoo."
se encontraba Cassie,
an ROTC cadet, a sorority sister
del ROTC, miembro de una hermandad,
all in one person.
Feministas, todo a la vez.
who always ran and road marched
Point, quien siempre corría y marchaba
always wanted to be in the infantry,
siempre quiso estar en infantería,
that women couldn't be,
mujeres no podían entrar
to bust drug gangs in Pennsylvania.
bandas de narcos en Pensilvania.
who played high school football
futbol americano en el instituto
after the first,
después del primero,
that girls couldn't play football,
no podían jugar a fútbol,
who would come after her.
después de ella.
part of their destiny,
parte de sus destinos,
out of reach for girls."
de las chicas"
to serve with the best of the best
de servir con los mejores
to their country,
para su país,
that they were female,
que eran mujeres,
was like women everywhere.
sentidos, era como todas las mujeres.
over eyeliner and eye pencil.
y el lápiz de ojos en el baño.
of weight on their backs,
en sus espaldas,
a movie called "Bridesmaids."
"La boda de mi mejor amiga"
big where they should be small,
grandes donde tenía que ser pequeños,
you see her here on my left --
la guerra de Iraq--a mi izquierda--
when she went out on mission each night.
mejor al salir de misión cada noche.
over video conference
por video conferencia
from their various bases,
partes de Afganistán,
doing what they were doing.
que hacían aquello.
what was working, what wasn't,
y lo que no,
what they needed to do better.
y lo que necesitaba mejorar.
some of the lighter moments of being women
momentos más ligeros de ser mujer
Operaciones Especiales,
that let you pee like a guy,
pipí como un chico,
a 40 percent accuracy rate out there.
índice de precisión de solo un 40%.
and you could be feminine.
actuar con fiereza y ser femeninas.
y chaleco antibalas.
and really like cross-stitch.
y adorar el punto de cruz.
and you could also love to bake cookies.
helicópteros así como hornear galletas.
todos y cada uno de los días,
to this mission as well.
a la misión también.
they never forgot
to the front lines,
llevado al frente,
prove themselves there.
les acreditó allí.
out on mission,
salió de misión,
tirador atrincherado al acecho
a barricaded shooter lying in wait
who were waiting to enter the home.
que esperaban para entrar en la casa.
who found out
formaban explosivos
that make up explosives
in which they were standing,
camino entre la casa
all the way between there
de dirigirse aquella noche.
about to head that night.
compañeras demostró sus habilidades
of their teammates proved herself
que buscaban
they were looking for
another one of their teammates,
otra de sus compañeras,
that they were looking for,
from the Rangers
que buscaban aquella noche
they were looking for that night
a sí mismas, no solo a ellas,
not only for one another,
después de ellas
who would come after them.
alongside whom they served.
con los que servían.
behind every great man is a good woman.
hombre hay una gran mujer.
who wanted to see them succeed.
que querían ver como lo lograban.
had served 12 deployments.
servido en 12 despliegues.
that he had to go train girls,
que entrenar a chicas,
se iba a encontrar.
women in the summer of 2011,
en el verano del 2011,
"hemos presenciado algo histórico.
"We have just witnessed history.
aviadoras de Tuskegee."
our own Tuskegee Airmen."
was the one person
se encontraba la persona
of Martha Stewart,
Martha Steward,
la comida para su marido,
to make dinner for her husband,
quien la animó a superarse,
who pushed her to be her best,
on her back and run for miles,
kilos a la espalda y correr kilómetros,
en su oficina en Kandahar,
in her office in Kandahar,
después se iba al gimnasio
and then go to the gym
barra de dominadas.
from a dead hang.
an extra pair of boots
un par extra de botas
números de marcación rápida.
would be on your speed dial.
through action.
over the easy wrong.
for walking up to a 15-foot rope,
de 4 kilómetros y medio,
solo los brazos,
debía usar los brazos y las piernas,
to use both her arms and her legs,
a casa para explicar sus historias.
to tell their stories.
alongside two Rangers,
asesinada junto a dos Rangers,
construido en la sombra
for the shadows
was still very much in place.
en combate aún estaba muy arraigada.
and gave a public testimony
vino, y ofreció un testimonio público
"these women are warriors,
"estas mujeres son guerreras,
sobre el significado de ser mujer
in what it means to be a female
asistente y conductora de autobús,
and a school bus driver,
about that overwhelming set of days,
aquellos abrumadores días,
in her hand came up to her
de la mano se acercó a ella
qué es un héroe.
what a hero was.
that heroes could be women, too."
también pueden ser mujeres."
all the unsung heroines
las heroínas olvidadas
to keep going and to test every limit.
continuar y poner a prueba cada límite.
bound forever in life and afterward
para siempre en la vida y después
que vendrán después de ellas,
who would come after them,
las que hubieron antes.
of those who had come before.
in all shapes and sizes.
presentan en cualquier forma y tamaño.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon - ReporterGayle Tzemach Lemmon writes about women around the world living their lives at war and in conflict zones.
Why you should listen
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon never set out to write about women entrepreneurs. After leaving ABC News for MBA study at Harvard, she was simply looking for a great -- and underreported -- economics story. What she found was women entrepreneurs in some of the toughest business environments creating jobs against daunting obstacles. Since then her writing on entrepreneurship has been published by the International Herald Tribune and Financial Times along with the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.
Now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Lemmon continues to travel the world reporting on economic and development issues with a focus on women. She is the author of Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield (2014), as well as the best seller The Dressmaker of Khair Khana (2011) about a young entrepreneur who supported her community under the Taliban.
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon | Speaker | TED.com