《The mirror and I》

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I think this is the best setting for my speech today, because we have a mirror right here. And this is the topic, the mirror and I. I like to look into the mirror. When I was a little girl, I often stood on my toes trying to find my face in the mirror of the dressing table which was nearly as high as I was. Now I still like to look into the mirror, when I looked at it, I found the face of a young women glowing with maturity, confident in her future and still fascinated with her own reflection. The fact I like to look into the mirror has to do with my granny with whom I spent most of my childhood. I remember clearly that one night, I heard her murmuring women can't be seen. Women can't be seen. I was so confused as I looked into the mirror the next morning to check if I could indeed to see myself. Only now as a young women myself can I understand it was not the physical visibility that granny had in her mind. Granny spend all her life taking care of the family, day-in and day-out. She cooked for her husband and ten children, but Whenever guests came, she and other female family members had to eat by the stove in the small kitchen. At family discussions she was never asked for her opinion. When grandpa passed away, she has to listen to my uncle her elderly son who became master of the house. Through years of toil, she fulfilled her duty as daughter, wife, and mother, yet as a person,she remained little noticed. If she had seen herself in the mirror of her dressing table, she was never visible in the mirror of society. I have been living a different life. At home, I make decisions together with the rest of the family, in school, I take charge of various of activities, the same as other boys and girls. Not only that, i can see something that granny could not have dreamed of--making decisions for my own life. I could choose from several competitive universities as I came out of high school. At university, I could choose from a range of subjects, changing from English literature to business law. And now upon graduation, I'm again faced with series of decisions, to further my study or to go to work, to stay in China or to go abroad, to get married right away, or to remain single for a bit longer. It does not matter weather or not I will become famous or rich. But I will treasure the chance to demonstrate my potentials into help other women demonstrate theirs as full members of society full visible in the mirror of history. I will treasure it because the abundance of my choice that I enjoy can only after decades of efforts made by my granny, my mom, and millions of other Chinese women. However, the choice to be made by me and the others of my generation is a great challenge. The misconception that men are superior to women is still dominating many people's mind. While remaining courage to compete until certain themselves we are expected to be quiet, loyal and obedient. This is not very different from what is expected of us as good wives and good mothers. The story of my grandmother and myself mirrors the lives of millions of other women in china and perhaps in the world. Many of them still live the life of my grandmother, their worth is not yet recognized. It is then the responsibility of a young women like me to study hard and work hard so the two will see themselves and will be seen in the mirror of society. This is my dream. This dream I believe is not only shared by many of our grandmothers, mothers and sisters, but also by many of our fathers, brothers, husbands and male colleagues. It will not come true until everyone fully realized that women can contribute to the society and should be guaranteed the right to. Women hold half the sky. Thank you