I am a daughter.
I am the daughter of a woman who smiled when I was born.
That woman who did not stop smiling because of quibbles.
I am the daughter of a brave woman who makes me braver every day.
I am the daughter of my mother.
The mother who supports and provides for her family.
That mother who cooks for her family.
The mother who proudly fights for me and my sister’s rights.
I am the daughter of that woman
Who put a pen in my hand instead of a broom.
She put her hand on mine and shaped the alphabet.
She taught me reading and writing instead of cooking.
By giving me a pen, she started a miracle.
I am the daughter of that woman
Who taught me to not attribute my courage to masculinity.
She taught me that if another woman needed help,
I should run, not walk, to help her.
I am a woman
Who learned her name from her mother.
Who learned that before being a daughter, a sister, or a mother,
I am a human.
I am a woman
Who has been fighting to live for many years
And even if they cut her tongue,
They cannot break her pen.
I am a woman
Who tries to keep her head up and breathe
From sunrise to sunset
Despite the crushing weight of the violence she faces.
Still,
I am a woman.
And the world would not exist without my existence.
Read this piece in Persian here.