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I try not to engage in debates on social media.
However, every now and then, I stumble across one that really grabs my attention and I can’t help myself. The other day, I noticed one that started out political but then took a nasty turn. A man started in on how if a man, any man, is sensitive to women’s issues and/or opinions, he is “less than” or, as he put it, a “beta” man.
I was intrigued.
I was not exactly sure what he meant, but knew the explanation was probably not going to make me happy. He went off on a tangent of how men are stronger, can do things women can not do, and so on.
Wow.
I was speechless…which does not happen very often….
just ask my husband.
It could not believe that in 2018, this was actually a thing. Are there really people, mainly men, who think this way?
It got me thinking about my boys. First, I thought of my older one. He was raised by a single mother for the first eight years of his life. I truly believe that has given him a great appreciation and respect for women.
As I started thinking about my younger son and how he was being raised to see his female counterparts, he came home with a story.
The timing could not have been better.
Layton: Mom, today, my friends were talking and a girl tried to talk and then my friend (a boy) said not to listen to her because she is a crazy woman!
Me: Oh, wow. What did you think about that??
Layton: I thought he was crazy! It doesn’t matter if she’s a girl or a boy…what’s the difference?
Me: (heart bursting) Nothing at all, buddy. Nothing.
Now, he is only nine. But so was the kid that called the little girl a “crazy woman” and she shouldn’t be heard.
Are there things men can physically do that women can’t? Absolutely.
Are there things women can do physically that men can’t? Uh, HELLO. We could stop populating the earth if we wanted.
There is nothing wrong with raising our boys to be respectful of women.
It does not make them weak or submissive. It makes them kind, empathetic human beings…which is exactly what this world needs more of right now.
I am very proud to say I have raised one and raising another.
