Even in the 21st century, it is shameful how our society sees boys as an asset and girls as a liability.
And, what is even more shameful is the fact that even many modern parents are still passing down this subconscious archaic thought to their kids.
But before you lose hope, there are some fathers who are breaking this chain and making sure their kids learn to respect and accept women as equals.
Disgusted by society’s rudimentary mentality about a son’s birth, this father realized how important it is to raise our boys right. Recalling how society reacted on having a son, this father shared with HoB,
“When we had our son, a lot of people congratulated my wife saying, ‘you can relax now…you have a son in the house’ and my wife and I laughed at their mentality but realised that this is how people still think. I was overjoyed that I had a son, but I knew I wanted to raise him right.”
Knowing that raising a son right means a lot of things, this couple decided to make conscious efforts to not give in to the society’s pressure:
“It’s okay if he cries and if he shows his emotions — my wife and I are constantly telling him that crying doesn’t make him any less of a man. We teach him to respect girls as equals and even in little things like a game of football or cricket to not make fun of them — that’s where it all begins.”
Realizing how we ingrain inequality in the minds of boys with the words – “Like a girl“, this father made sure he parents his sons right.
“Just the other day at the park, they were playing football and right before this small girl was about to kick the ball, a boy shouted — ‘don’t kick like a girl…we’ll lose’ and everyone began to laugh. That small girl looked so shaken, but before anyone could say anything my son went upto her and said, ‘kick like a girl…that’s how we’ll show them how to win!’ and I promise you, that girl was beaming — she played like a real rockstar. As a father, I felt proud because the boys we raise today are the men of tomorrow.”
And, here is his unique parenting mantra that many of us can learn from:
“Everyday we hear things about women empowerment and feminism but I’m trying to teach my son that women don’t need to be empowered— they already are. By trying to empower them, we’re proving that they’re weaker and need us to help them. Truth is, women are ready to rule the world as is…all they need is the world to be fair to them —to give them the respect they deserve…whether it’s at home, at work or out on the streets.”
In a country, where sons are thought of as life-long insurance, and daughters as a temporary resident of the house until their marriage, we feel proud to have fathers like him.
At I FOR HER, we would like to celebrate every father, who is making a change to society by raising the next generation to respect women the way they deserve.
If you know of any such story write to us, and we would share it with our community to spread the change.
