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What do you teach your son about gender?
It is said that charity begins at home; therefore it is very important to raise your sons the right way and carefully educate them about gender equality. Most men who do not believe in gender equality today did not get the ideas off the back of their heads, they grew into it. The way they were trained and what they saw while growing up largely influenced the ideologies that they now find difficult to let go of today. Whatever you teach your child stays with the child forever.
Therefore, it is very important for both boys and girls to grow up having in mind that all genders are equal.
Here are a few points that can guide you –
- Teach by example: Children learn a lot from how their parents treat each other; this is because parents are children’s first role models and children grow to emulate their parents. So treat each other as equals, respecting one another, and creating a loving, peaceful, and equal atmosphere for your kids.
- Allocate chores equally among boys and girls: As part of training your children, it is important to make sure they can do household chores. Unfortunately, most parents allocate chores on the basis of gender. That is not only wrong, it is unfair. Both the boys and girls should help in the kitchen, in cleaning the house, laundry, going to the market, and washing your cars amongst other duties. This makes them grow up seeing each gender as on the same level, and it’s a very great step in building a gender-equal society.
- Watch your speech: Parents tend to use phrases like “stop being a sissy” and other sexist statements when trying to correct or scold their sons. Speeches like that make the boy feel like women are inferior and he should aspire to his own superior gender. So, avoid using such statements and teach your kids not to use them either.
- Teach them to be responsible and self-dependent: Teach your son to be able to take care of himself, teach him how to cook, how to iron his clothes, etc. Don’t raise a boy who is heavily dependent on you for the basic things. Also, teach him love and kindness, and let him know that it doesn’t show weakness, it actually shows strength.
The bottom line is that you can change the narrative by teaching your boys values and opening their eyes to equality of gender. By so doing, you are not only helping to reshape the world, but you are also raising your son to be a better man that would surely have a more rewarding life.