Roya Saberzada
I am a human. God has created both, my brother and I, free. The intellect that God has given him, is also given to me.
My brother and I, equal human beings, will each be held responsible for our own actions in the afterlife. We share the same human features: eyes, ears, mouth, hands…
Yet he always has the right to make his own choices and I am always forced into accepting other people’s decisions about my life.
Why does he get to ride his bike to school whenever he wants and I have to walk that long distance? Riding a bike is not a shameful act. It is just another mode of transportation.
Why should I iron my brother’s clothes while he is capable of doing so himself? Am I his servant?
Why is it that I have to wake up in the middle of the night when my brother comes home late to prepare food for him?
Why am I not allowed to have Facebook like my brother and post my own photo on my profile?
Why I can’t exercise in the morning by walking or jogging on the streets of my city?
Why does my brother get respect for just being a human while I only get respect as someone’s mother, sister, wife or daughter?
Is everyone blind or is there another reason why don’t see that I am a human too? Or is my humanity above their comprehension?
When I proudly speak of my brother among my friends, why does my brother feel embarrassed for using my name in front of his peers?
Am I a spare being on this planet?
Is the right to live fully reserved for my brother? Why is everyone always reminding me to live within the bounds society has created for me?
Why are my feelings and wishes dismissed but my brothers’ respected?
Why is my brother’s physical health and strength valued and mine seen as unimportant?
Since I have known myself, I have asked these questions and I have not received a satisfactory response yet. Perhaps we have forgotten that violence is not always physical like breaking someone’s bones. Discrimination is violence.
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Read this piece in Persian here.
This piece was translated to English by Maryam Laly. A volunteer for Free Women Writers, Maryam is passionate about human rights issues. She has a degree in Government with minors in Peace Studies and Arabic from St. Lawrence University.