Dear Dad (short) - Consciousness-raising in Literature & Feminist Activism - OPs by Students - Your Stuff!

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Dear dad A five-minute short film to involve men in fighting violence against women. It voices a letter written by a daughter for her father before her birth. It was made for an organization called Care.no in Norway, and includes an important message that concerns us all: "I will be born a girl, please do everything you can so that won't stay the greatest danger of all".

#Dear Daddy
Transcription by Eva M. Pastor Sánchez (C1, 2015-16)

Dear daddy,

I just wanted to thank you for looking after me so well even though I'm not yet born. I know you already try harder than Superman, and you won't even let mummy eat sushi, but I need to ask you a favor. Warning: it's about boys. Because, you see, I will be born a girl, which means that by the time I'm 14, the boys in my class will have called me a whore, a bitch, a cunt and many other things. It's just for fun, of course, something boys do, so you won't worry, and I understand that. Perhaps you did the same when you were young trying to impress some of the other boys. I'm sure you didn't mean anything by it. Still, some of the people won't get the joke and, funnily enough, it isn't any of the girls, it's some of the boys.

So, by the time I turn 16 a couple of the boys will have snuck their hands down my pants while I'm so drunk I can't even stand straight and although I say no, they just laugh. It's funny, right? If you saw me, daddy, you would be so ashamed because I'm wasted. No wonder I'm raped when I'm 21. 21 and on my way home in a taxi driven by the son of a guy you went swimming with every Wednesday, the guy who always told you insulting jokes. But they were of course only jokes so you laughed. Had you known that his son would end up raping me you would have told them to get a grip but how could you know… But how could you know, he was just a boy telling weird jokes and in any case, it wasn't your business, you were just being nice. But his son, raised on these jokes, becomes my business.

Then finally I meet Mr. Perfect and you are so happy for me, daddy, because he really adores me and he's smart with a great job and all through the winter he goes cross country skiing three times a week, just like you. But one day he stops being Mr. Perfect and I don't know why, wait… Am I overreacting? One thing I do know is I'm not the victim type. I'm raised to be a strong and independent woman. But one night it's just all too much for him, with work and the in-laws and the wedding coming up, so he calls me a whore, just like you called the girl at middle school once. Then another day, he hits me, I mean, I'm way out of line, I can really be a bitch sometimes, but we're still the world's greatest couple, and I'm so confused because, I love him and I hate him, and I'm not sure if I really did do something wrong. And then one day he almost kills me and it all goes black, even though I have a PhD, a fantastic job, I'm loved by my friends and my family, I'm well brought up, and nobody saw this coming. 

Dear daddy, this is the favor I want to ask. One thing always leads to another, so please stop it before it gets the chance to begin. Don't let my brothers call girls whores, because they're not, and one day some little boy may think it's true. Don't accept insulting jokes from weird guys by the pool or even friends, because behind every joke there is always some truth.

Dear daddy, I know you will overprotect me from lions, tigers, guns, cars and even sushi without even thinking about the danger to your own life, but dear daddy, I will be born a girl: please, do everything you can so that that won't stay the greatest danger of all.