I never know if I can weigh in as I’m not Arab, but I relate to this a lot. I come from a catholic Italian family and when I moved to London aged 18 I felt that I was in a way divorcing my family and everything that I knew. It felt liberating and not for a second did I feel scared. The fear came afterwards… today, 11 years later, I am at a loss as my parents are aging, I am getting older, and I wish I had the same convinctions and same habits that they have. It would be nice to have a model, someone to relate to. It hurts to know that parents are just people and that no matter what, growing up is in itself a tiny loss, and it’s only normal to feel grief at times 🫶🏻
Of course you can! I center the Arab female experience because that's the lens through which I see things but the discussion is open to all! Also I realise that as women we have much more in common than we do different and, as a friend reminded me, the patriarchy doesn't wanna see any women in her full knowledge and power, regardless of what her background is.
Thanks for sharing. And I totally feel you. There's a severing but then also a grief. I do think once we separate out what's theirs from what's ours then we can find a way to hold all of these things at once. To keep the things that suit us ❤️
"Who gets to decide what being Arab means?" ~ that whole section has me in my feels 😭those comments of not being arab enough have messed with me for sure
this resonated so much for me, thank you!
🙏🏽❤️
Very honest and from the heart !
🤗❤️
I never know if I can weigh in as I’m not Arab, but I relate to this a lot. I come from a catholic Italian family and when I moved to London aged 18 I felt that I was in a way divorcing my family and everything that I knew. It felt liberating and not for a second did I feel scared. The fear came afterwards… today, 11 years later, I am at a loss as my parents are aging, I am getting older, and I wish I had the same convinctions and same habits that they have. It would be nice to have a model, someone to relate to. It hurts to know that parents are just people and that no matter what, growing up is in itself a tiny loss, and it’s only normal to feel grief at times 🫶🏻
Of course you can! I center the Arab female experience because that's the lens through which I see things but the discussion is open to all! Also I realise that as women we have much more in common than we do different and, as a friend reminded me, the patriarchy doesn't wanna see any women in her full knowledge and power, regardless of what her background is.
Thanks for sharing. And I totally feel you. There's a severing but then also a grief. I do think once we separate out what's theirs from what's ours then we can find a way to hold all of these things at once. To keep the things that suit us ❤️
"Who gets to decide what being Arab means?" ~ that whole section has me in my feels 😭those comments of not being arab enough have messed with me for sure
Ugh!!! The horizontal hostility is infuriating
Wow!
🥰