Dearest Daughter,

I apologize for every time you were made to feel inferior . I am sorry if I ever allowed someone to make you feel "lesser than." Sadly, this is the way the world has always worked. I am ashamed to say that this is how I was raised by my mother and the way she was raised by her mother before her. This has been the unjust assumption about females since time immemorial; that we are weak, easily manipulated, simple to demean or degrade. ... I am at fault if you ever felt that you should look down at the ground and never look any person of authority in the eye and express your opinion. I, too, have stood with eyes downcast and cowered in frightened silence. I have seen my own mother assume the same stance.

Here and now, dear daughter, I make you a solemn promise. The submission ends today. Lift your eyes, my child. Stand straight and tall and speak your words, for they are powerful and true. There is nobody on this earth who is above you, not a man nor another woman, not a doctor nor a lawyer, not a husband nor a president.I vow to teach you by my own example. You will watch as I command my own being, my own destiny. You will never again see me tremble or grovel before any person who claims to be superior to me. You will see me be the strong advocate of my own body and mind, whether in sickness or in health. Never again will I meekly listen to and blindly obey anybody. If you should falter as you develop your inner strength, I vow to stand behind you and hold you up, for your way will not be without obstacle. Yet, together, we will prevail because it is our crucial duty to be firm and with purpose. For, someday, you, too, may bear daughters who may, in turn, birth daughters of their own. Their path must be prepared and it begins with me. This I swear to you with my enduring pledge.