The fact that I want to raise awareness about the challenges faced by girls takes nothing away from my son, myself, or men in general.
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I’m a father; husband, brother, son, teacher, primary care giver to my kids, a writer and geek. I am a feminist. I was not always one, but then I became the father of two, a boy and a girl. I realized that I couldn’t pretend that my girl doesn’t face the head wind that my boy will not because of her gender. That she will be scrutinized in a way her brother will never be about her education, profession, her physical appearance, the way she chooses to dress, speak in public or simply walk down a street minding her own business.
I’m psyched to be raising both of my children to be critical thinkers, question authority, even myself, to be self aware and self-actualized. I labor hard everyday to “walk my talk” (sometimes woefully inadequately) to become a positive role model. I am proud to raise both of them to be self-reliant, and whomever is the eventual “breadwinner” in their relationships my wife and I try to show them examples of how men and women can be full partners and enjoy sharing the responsibilities of a household, primarily by not limiting anything by gender. However, as things stand today my daughter like he mother, will most likely make less than a male collogue all other things being equal.
I am raising them to treat all the people in their lives like equals simply because all people are equals. Bottom line, equality is what feminism is about. I have no qualms with that concept. I want my children to open doors and carry heavy loads, to ask whomever they choose out on a date and pay the bill without expecting anything in return. I simply don’t want them to be assholes. I have no idea whom they will be attracted too nor whom they love romantically, not only is it inconsequential to me that’s the most personal choice anyone has in life.
I reject wholeheartedly the notion that feminism is damaging to anyone. Perhaps it stems from the belief I’ve developed over the years from experience being an outdoor educator, mentored by some amazingly powerful cis- and transgender women. By teaching and learning in both traditional and non traditional teaching environments informs me that there are as many different ways for a person to express their gender as there are stars in the sky. I’m not made uncomfortable by women whom have legitimate beef with the roles that a male dominated society attempt to pigeonhole them in.
It’s those very real barriers I want out of my daughter’s way.
Thankfully we’ve started to lay the groundwork for discussing at an age appropriate level, their sexuality as a part of life. Keeping the lines of communication open and empowering them both with decision-making tools and the self esteem to help resist peers, that will serve them through their tumulutuos teenage years and beyond. I firmly believe the choices young people make reflect proportionately to their level of self-esteem. We are doing our best to make sure they feel loved and it helps children feel empowered. I also taught literacy and studies have shown reading is fundamental for the obvious reasons but it also aids in developing empathy towards others.
My wife and I are not raising victims or victimizers. We simply want both to be able to stand by their choices without shame.
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I reject limits on someone because of their gender, as I’ve stated before no evidence I know should pigeonhole anyone from following their dreams, we as an advanced society need to look at why those limits exist and proactively address them. That can’t happen in a vacuum. If the goal is progressive social change we must be bold enough to have hard conversations and be self-reflective. Romanticizing outdated hereto-normative cis- gender roles will only perpetuate the status quo. It’s about everyone being worthy of respect and taken on their own terms. Not morality judgments upon how someone else chooses to live. My rights end where your rights begin Female, Male, and Transgender or wherever you fall on the spectrum.
I reject the notion that feminism means suppressing masculinity, it’s fact being a man comes with unearned privilege in a patriarchy (site) On the latest Inquiring Minds podcast, Indre Viskontas asked Mythbuster co-host Adam Savage why “there is so much rage against women in” both the hard sciences and the gaming community.
“Shit’s tough for girls,” Savage said. “As a man, I’m watching this whole ‘Gamer Gate’ thing go down, and I don’t know.”
“I wish I understood it better, because I see it and I have friends that suffer from it. I worked with [Mythbuster co-host] Kari Byron for 11 years, and I’ve watched the evolution of the terrible shit Kari’s had to deal with as a public figure and a woman and a science communicator.”
“The problem I have is that I’m a white dude,” he continued. “And I recognize that my privilege makes it impossible for me to say, ‘There should be more women in science’ without sounding like I’m proclaiming from on high. I take that position seriously. I bring women into the things I’m doing because they absolutely are part and parcel of all of the storytelling and the science and the scientific discovery that we do.”
“I can’t help but feel,” Savage concluded, “that our culture is promoting impossible ideals. Ideals of ownership, ideals of success, ideals of body types — and women have suffered mightily. We have old dudes on Fox telling females hosts that they could all lose 10 lbs. They should have stomped him at that point.”
“Shit’s tough for girls,” Savage says, and I concur. But the fact that I want to raise awareness about that takes nothing away from my son, myself, or men in general.
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Photo:Flickr/Lisa Williams
My comment had to do with any mom or dad labeling him/herself as to their efforts being fem inist rather then seeing their efforts as simply being a mom/dad. I fought for my daughter and son’s rights as a “dad” and nothing more.
https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/sh-ts-tough-for-girls-why-im-a-feminist-dad-102430045143.html The same article is also with Yahoo Parenting, there were some few comments a few hours ago, all of them negative about feminism. Now all comments disappeared, the option to add comments was removed. About being a feminist and a father, in general this works well until in case of divorce. You will be astonished what kind of privileges men have in Western countries. Expect your children to be taken away from you, visitation rights ignored, and expect being forced to pay child support and you have no control to check for what your money really is spent. Please… Read more »
Alex, thought this was a fantastic piece of writing. Thank you. What I think people seem to miss is that just because you wrote an article about supporting your little girl, doesn’t mean you don’t also support your little boy and the issues he will face in the world. It just means your a man, that isn’t ashamed to use the word Femininst and show support for your little girl. And honestly, we need more men like you. We already know that men get their little boys more on an understanding level of what they will deal with. So a… Read more »
Shit’s tough for boys too – that’s why I’m an MRA dad!
Yes, it is not easy for boys – and thanks, yes I fully agree with your comment.
My reply to your posting was removed a few minutes ago.
Presumably your son is a black boy??? He is least likely to go to college according to statistics. He is more likely to be a high school drop-out, more likely to face higher unemployment rate, most likely to be profiled, more likely to be homeless, most likely to be killed. I don’t know where you get the idea that your daughter supposedly has it tougher than your son. Women have comprised the majority of college graduates for over 3 decades and they have a lower unemployment rate than men. Just because society gives far more prominence to issues facing women… Read more »
So yes, the fact that you want to raise awareness about the challenges that girls face takes nothing away from your son or other boys, but if you operate like much of society, focusing on and magnifying the challenges that girls face to the exclusion of or while ignoring the sometimes different but equally difficult challenges that boys face- or worse, framing the challenges that girls face as evidence that boys do not face any hardships (read:are all privileged oppressors) and thus do not deserve any attention, then you are absolutely part of the problem.
Yup, yet another one is removed.
I’m beginning to feel like I’m on a “list” with GMP
LOL, I must have been flagged ….
Totally expecting my previous comment to be removed…..
“Why aren’t there more women in science?” I remember my college biology teacher getting into a huge ruckus with the science department over tenure…the chairman of the department who was part of the team that was denying her tenure was the same guy who put his hand on my leg when I had my pre-professional school advisor session with him… Sexual harassment of women in the sciences is more insidious and no less destructive than street harassment…men on the street hoot out loud and make all kinds of disgusting noises…men in positions of power can harass young women more quietly… Read more »
I don’t think you’ve been to school in the last 20 years if you’re suggesting that girls face a head wind that boys don’t. Generally it’s the other way around with resources being thrown at girls to get them to go to college and into obscure programs that have only a few dozen students so that things are equal. The entire educational system caters to women and it’s getting worse. During my years in college rarel, if ever, did men outnumber women and usually it was women outnumbering men by about a margin of 2 to 1. And those were… Read more »