Dear Persons,
Z has always
laughed every time she hears or reads the word “persons.”
I finally sat her
down and explained to her that “persons” is a word that has a deep and
complicated history. That personhood was for many millennia and in many places
reserved for only a certain type of people, such as men, or landowners, or
white people, or people of a certain caste or religious faith or neurology...
I explained that
even though it might seem silly or old-fashioned when you read or hear that
word, it’s a strong word that carries a lot of goodness and respect. That she,
as a female of Chinese descent, might -- in many settings over the course of
history -- not have been considered a
Full Person. That even now she will not necessarily earn as much as a man, or
be accorded equal respect.
We are reading
Malala Yousafzai’s autobiography, I AM MALALA, together, and she is learning
how hard life can be for girls and women in many parts of the world. She has
already experienced instances of racism at school. Knowing she’s a Full Person
gives her grounding and power to stick up for herself.
This conversation
inspired me to begin starting my posts with “Dear Persons,” because my readers
are dear to me, and because they are all Full Persons.
Love,
Full Spectrum Mama
