I believe that no matter what respect for others, namely women, is a value that should never be compromised. As a woman it pains me to see the instances of crimes against my fellow sisters. This generation has seemed to have forgotten that we ALL come from a woman and that fact in and of itself demands a certain level of respect. I believe that the importance of the female has been forgotten. Domestic and verbal abuse. Sexism. Rape. I believe that the perpetrators of these crimes lack the fundamental lesson instilled in me and my siblings as children: That a woman is to be treasured and respected. It has always been my thinking that seeing my mother work so hard as a single mom fueled my respect for her.
Since I was around 9 years old I have seen my mother work twelve hour shifts on little or no sleep in order to provide for me and my two siblings. Even though she would come home run down and tired she still somehow mustered up the strength to get us to school and get everything in order in the house before she left for work that night. What I came to realize as I grew older was that the choices that my mom made were all because of her love for her children. It was the strength that fueled her and for that I thank her.
On the issue of respect I will never forget my mother’s famous words, “Behavior is learned”. It’s a phrase I’ve heard repeated throughout most of my life. My mom likes to say that people’s values don’t just come from anywhere that they are instilled in them at a young age by their parents. Therefore it is no surprise that I believe in respect for women because I had my own mother to give me the foundation for that value. This value has undoubtedly translated into my adult life and is the reason why I feel the need to speak out when I see something that disturbs me.
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Sing it, sister! I like your message. However, you have a few sentences that I would rework for clarity. Since this is a verbal assignment, you want to keep your sentences as simple and clean as possible. I think your opening sentence may be too cluttered. Your main sentence is, “I believe that respect for others is a value that should never be compromised.” When you interject it with phrases like “no matter what” and “namely women,” your pausing in delivery may be awkward. You may want to just make your opening sentence, “I believe that respect for women is a value that should never be compromised.” Remember: Keep it simple. I would also omit, “It has always been my thinking that” from the last line in your opening paragraph. Eliminate any unnecessary words or phrases. All in all, I really like it! Your mom sounds like one awesome lady.