Never abandon your dreams, never!

November 15 marks the anniversary of the passing of Françoise Héritier, the distinguished French anthropologist and a friend of the Iranian Resistance. In honoring her legacy, Maryam Rajavi wrote:
“Françoise Héritier may no longer be with us, yet the flames of her profound ideas will continue to shine. We will not forget her words: humanity will never know true freedom without absolute equality between the sexes. She also reminded us that the hardships along the path must never lead to passivity. Instead, each of us—men and women alike—must unite our efforts to one day eliminate this model of male domination, which, from its very foundation, has been built on inequality worldwide.”
Françoise Héritier also wrote a beautiful endorsement for the French edition of the book “Women Against Fundamentalism” by Maryam Rajavi.
In March 2017, Ms. Héritier sent a video message to the “Pledge for Parity: Women United against Islamic Fundamentalism” conference, in which she stated:
“My message is very simple. Women indeed enjoy equal status and similar respect as men. But this could not be achieved without struggle. Achieving this goal is not feasible without fighting for it and without paying its price. This is why education and training are extremely important.
“At the same time, achieving political leadership is very important wherever it is possible. This is why I am very fond of the undertakings by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi. Because I quickly became aware of the quality of her struggle and her honest commitment to the separation of religion and state and the cause of women. In some places, she has taken the initiative.
“I think this is a fundamental issue, albeit related to a special environment, which can set a model for others in that she (Maryam Rajavi) chose to grant women the responsibility of exercising political leadership. This is while these types of work had traditionally been in the hands of men and women were simply just assistants or secretaries.
“She decided to change the status quo. I would not say that this would be possible everywhere, for example in every company or all countries. However, this is a model and if it turns out to be viable, and methodically it should be, there will remain no reason to claim that women are incompetent. If this experience proves to be successful, it will set a model for humanity. This will be a message to women.
“An unnatural reaction has been imposed on every woman since childhood for her to say that she is never going to be able to do things because everything she does is under the dominance of men and that they should be left to men to do. Now, they must accept to audaciously undertake an adventure. I recommend such audacity to women of our time.
“With regards to the women of (Camp) Liberty, it is very difficult for me to speak in their stead or send them a message because when I sit comfortably in my apartment in Paris, far away from wars and battles and problems of everyday life, it would be arrogant for anyone to tell them anything. One must listen to them and follow their model. Perhaps, I could add one thing that I do very much believe in and am proud of, and it is this: not only do they need to be audacious, but they should always be proud of what they are. They must powerfully present and express what they are, including to their torturers.
“To today’s young women, to young women and girls, — of course, I do not mean that the time is over for others, they can continue to struggle—but to the young women who are filled with hope and seek not a dream life but a life that they dream of – these two are not the same – I tell them to never abandon their dreams. Never!”