Shahida. 20. New York University.
I am President of National Organization of Women at NYU and I became a feminist because it helped me survive.
The culture I come from imposes impossible expectations - impossible not because they are difficult to reach but because they should not be aspired to in the first place. My culture’s view on women’s rights: slut-shaming, marrying a rich doctor to ensure your livelihood and respectability within the community, the expectation of being religious, all eyes judging you at all times. What you wear, how you speak, and what you believe under constant scrutiny. Blasphemous if you date or marry someone outside of your culture. Heresy if you date someone of the same sex. Ludicrous if you don’t see sexual assault as YOUR source of shame, your burden, and not the perpetrator’s. A woman’s silence and obedience to marriage and family is emphasized to the extreme.
I am sick of my culture’s oppressive expectations as well as those of other cultures. My body doesn’t belong to anybody but me. My mind doesn’t have to conform to any standards but my own. Feminism is about choice - it’s not a box or a label - it’s a lifelong philosophy of advocating and fighting for the right to choose. The right to choose what to wear. What to say. What to believe in. Who to date. Who to be.
I will not let them take away my right to choose.
