Early days of my pregnancy, I was hoping for a daughter. I believed that with a girl-child, I could connect more, pass on the feminine wisdom, do all things that we women do, teach her about how the body works, what love feels like, how to hold the needles and the knife, how to write poetry, to dream, to be soft, to care, to gently hold and offer compassion…
…most of all, I believed I could better model and serve feminism.
Well, thank you Son, for proving me wrong (and being a master in teaching me how to let go of my illusions). I am a more critical, present, aware, responsible and inclusive feminist because of you!
Oh, and all those things, I get to do them with you too. And so much more.
Audre Lorde, a Powerhouse of Black feminism, once wrote: “A mother of sons must move to that voice within herself, rather than to those raucous, persuasive or threatening voices from outside, modeling and pressuring him to be what the world wants him to be.”
You are almost 12.
I promise to keep trying to model how to be me, and through this, to allow you to stay bound into your real You. Your magical, wonderful, driving-me-insane You!
Love,
Mama
Aleksandra Staneva, PhD 