A Discussion About Raising Men on International Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day and there are so many conversations going on about women empowerment. I saw this image online today and it prompted me to share some thoughts that I’ve been chewing on for a while.
I’m all for the message of raising girls who will grow up to be strong and capable participants in their worlds. I believe that even though my mom never openly called herself a feminist, she taught me that there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do. Correction, she never told me that. She just lived it out in a way that I never knew that there was any other option. I’m grateful, because I have the ability to recognize the injustices that exist for women and girls everywhere.
Women are being paid less than their male counterparts, they’re bing asked to make sacrifices and choices in the workplace that men aren’t, they’re being sexually harassed and then blamed for the crime, they’re being told to be quiet, they’re being held to societal norms that are damaging and oppressive, they’re being told that there is no place for them at the top, they’re still presented as objects in major media and no one thinks twice about it. But lately it feels like there is a shift in the conversation.
It’s inspiring to be a woman in this time. By no means are we there yet, but I’m hopeful when I look around that change is upon us. There are conversations happening all around that are aiming to change the way that we talk about, treat, and view women.
When I first saw this commercial, I cried. I felt so overwhelmed that someone in major media was questioning why it was considered an insult to run/throw/kick like a girl. It was a breath of fresh air.
But… all this talk about what it means to raise strong girls made me think about my contribution because I have a son. I’m not sure if I will have the chance in the future to have a baby girl or not. If I do, I have all kinds of experience and wisdom that I will happily pass down to her. But, for now… I have one baby boy. I think about him all the time and I’m really invested in what kind of man he grows up to be, like most parents I suppose. I think that strong women raising little boys have a unique opportunity to raise them in a way that changes the future for women and girls everywhere. If our little boys grow up to be men who own businesses that give equal opportunities to women, if they grow up to be husbands who respect their wives, not as trophies on a pedestal, but as people with unique attributes, if they grow up to be fathers who teach their own little girls how to reach for their dreams and their sons to find normalcy in equality rather than a threat, the world is looking brighter with each passing generation.
So.. I created this image for us to share, pin, and reflect on.
