Letter to an unborn child

 

Here is another passage about motherhood that I like, from Oriana Fallaci's "Letter to an unborn child." I'm sure it's been translated into English, but here is my translation of the original Italian passage. From Aria to Athena

"I would like for you to be a girl. I would like for you to one day experience what I do: I do not agree at all with my mother, who thinks that being born a woman is a disgrace. I know: ours is a world made by men for men, the dictatorship is so ancient that it applies even to language. We say 'man' to mean man and woman, we say 'child' to mean boy and girl, we say 'homicide' to mean killing a man or a woman ... And yet, or maybe even because of this, it is so fascinating to be a woman. It is an adventure that requires a certain courage, a challenge that never grows dull ... You will have to fight constantly. Fighting is much greater than winning, traveling is much greater than arriving: when you have arrived or you have won, you sense a great emptiness. And to overcome that emptiness you have to start traveling again, create new goals for yourself. But if you are born a boy, I will also be happy. And maybe even happier because you will be spared so much humiliation, so much abuse. If you are born a man, for example, you won't have to be afraid of being raped in the darkness in some street. You won't have to rely on a pretty face to be accepted at first glance, or on a nice body to hide your intelligence. You won't be subjected to evil judgment when you sleep with whomever you like. Naturally, you will be faced with other kinds of slavery, other injustices: life isn't easy for a man, either, you know. Since you will have bigger muscles, they will ask you to bear heavier loads. Since you will have a beard, they will laugh if you cry and even if you need tenderness. They will order you to kill and be killed in war. And yet, or perhaps because of this, to be a man will be an equally marvelous adventure. If you are born a man, I hope that you will be the man I always dreamed of: sweet with the weak, ferocious with the bullies, generous with those who love you."