Yeganeh’s talk was incredibly inspiring. When I think of an empowered woman, now I’ll always think of her. The way that she presented her story seemed to almost downplay her own accomplishments. By only talking for a few minutes, and spending most of her time answering our questions, she made herself seem human.
Usually I think of empowered women as being icons who radiate authority and strength. Wonder Woman, Beyonce, Martha Graham--people who make a splash and make history. Yeganeh, she’s different in that sense.In talking with my peers after the presentation, we all were in agreement: We had pretty much all heard the story of Yeganeh’s husband, Jason, and how “the American Government freed a hostage from an Iranian prison.” But how come we’d never heard of Yeganeh? That is one question that I wish I’d asked during the presentation. Because, Yeganeh’s struggle and experience should be revered in the same light as that of a man’s. So this is why I feel that Yeganeh holds an almost sneaky form of empowerment.
It may sound strange, but Yeganeh is not the stereotypical “empowered woman.” But, she definitely oozes empowerment. Her take on the idea that we all hold an extra bucket of empowerment in our reserves is a very optimistic and enlightening way of seeing the world. And while I cannot personally relate to the specific pain which Yeganeh endured, I feel like I understand her as a person.
Yeganeh is empowered. She has an inner strength that shines like a light from inside of her. When times are tough, she can drink from her hidden bucket of power. In addition to Yeganeh’s personal story, it was amazing to hear about new aspects of Iranian culture. Yeganeh was very precise in conveying that Iranians are not so different from Americans. They love movies and fashion and fast food. By imbedding the cultural similarities into her presentation, Yeganeh allowed herself to be more approachable. Which in turn, allowed us all to be empowered by her empowerment.
- Stephanie Erskine, IA&C 2017-18
