To My Future Daughter,
If you end up becoming interested in mathematics, engineering, science, STEM or technology, then according to the Center of American Progress, you will be part of the 24 percent of women in that workforce. And to break it down even more, you will make up two percent of that twenty four; because you’re part African American. You will be told you can’t do something that you can do because it’s a “man’s job", or because you might “hurt yourself”. For every dollar a man will make, you will make 78 cents of that dollar. You will be told that you're only good for the kitchen, but I'm writing you to tell you that you are just as good for the office.
During your preteen years, girls at school will obsess over looking and acting a certain way, and you’ll want to be a part of it. There will be magazines of models and celebrities—all the same size--who you’ll desire to look like. You’ll hear that you’re only pretty with makeup on. And if you are anything like how I was when I was in those years, you’ll want to perm your hair pin-straight, because most of your friends have pin-straight hair. But I’m writing you to tell you that those natural curls are just as beautiful.
Soon enough, you will learn how to voice your thoughts, and those thoughts will be considered you being the “bitter girl” and complaining. Life going into college made me think that I needed to be confident but quiet when it came to my real opinions, that I needed to have a tiny waist along with a big perky rear-end, and that I had to be super smart, but dumb, in a cute way, to get a boy to notice me. What I needed was a reality check! I needed to be myself to become the powerful woman I aspire to be, with or without a man. Boys will come around, or they won’t; you might start to think that a boy will be your key to being happy, but I’m writing you to tell you that you are the key.
We live in a world where we live to the expectations of others, or the roles given to us. But I’m writing you to tell you that your self-worth is more than what society claims it to be, that you are more than just a statistic, more than what is expected of you, you are more."Women might just have something to contribute to civilization other than their vaginas." -Christopher Buckley, Florence of Arabia
Your Loving Future Mother,
Emily.
