I guess I was so tired and busy with surviving that I could not get how unsweet these comments were. Not that the people who made them were mean or meant evil, but the image many people around the world have in mind from an Iranian woman is so unreal.
Why does it have to be strange and surprising when a woman, coming from that part of the world is educated or cultured? It took me so long before I was able to look at that image that I disliked, and I found it so offending instead of pleasant. But at the same time, I could not put all the blame on the ignorance of Americans, for it looked like we, Iranian women, are on a mission to create this image. Where does this need to look so perfect and manicured come from? Who needs to approve of us, when we are so capable in making a living as immigrants? On the other hand, in most cases, we are immigrants by our own choice and effort, and what we easily miss, is that there is a huge difference between being free, and looking free, and in many cases, Iranian immigrant women just look free, while bearing the unwanted baggage of feeling inferior in their minds.
For me, the first time it made sense to believe in myself, happened when I was not actually trying that hard between getting a degree and having a killer career; right after becoming a mother. It felt so good just to enjoy life with me being the center of it, because I deserved the peace theat I had earned. And if someone asked me where I was from at that moment, I would have said, I'm a happy woman, who happens to be Iranian too. Nobody needs to know more.
Link لينک 12:12:00 am همايون خيري 
