Feminism

Reading about the effort the women in the past put into to fight for our equality makes me realize how grateful I am to live in a time era that accepts the freedom and equality of women. We have come a long way from being oppressed and there are still laws that should be changed so that women have the same rights as men. What stuck out to me during the reading was when one the African group told the UN Convention “contrary to the best intentions of ‘sisterhood’, not all women share the identical interests”. This has to be one of the most memorable quotes to me because it is true. What some people want in our society is different than other societies. It reminds me of why my parents pushed us so hard to go to school and do well in school especially my sisters and I. My parents came from Vietnam and my mom and her sisters were not expected to go to school. They were expected to stay home and help my grandmother around the house. When my parents finally came to America and had my sisters and I, my dad pushed on us that we were supposed to help my mom around the house. My dad always said that as the first-born daughter I was expected to know my mother’s role. I was supposed to learn from my mom because if anything ever happened to her, I was expected to do everything that she did. My mom on the other hand was the complete opposite. She pushed me to study hard in school because she didn’t want me to just become someone’s wife and mother. She wanted me to make a name for myself; she wanted to know that I would be able to take care of myself. When I look back at my life I realize how independent I have become and it is hard to imagine a life where I nothing but an item to a man.