In a time where girl power is celebrated, little girls are being told to dream big and being empowered, told they can be anything, do anything they set their minds and hearts to. Women speaking out against inequality in everything from t-shirt sayings to the work place. I see so much of the saying “it’s hard to be a man right now” well if your a shitty man hell yes it is, and if you’re not then keep on keeping on. But there’s is so much less of the latter in this time, that we don’t really see anything but. Women are sick of being less than, they want to be on the same line, toe to toe with her head held high, as any other male  and not be mocked or cat called. Some don’t want to be equal they want the advantage and to be greater than. Now I’m all for this feminist movement we are living with right now, I am a Female Business owner. I started my company and grew it to a point where my husband quit his job and we made my business our full time gig. That’s pretty amazing, that I as a woman am running this show right? I can do anything, girl power. But you know what else I am? A mom of THREE boys. And they are watching me everyday. I am setting the example of how they view women. I am their first idea of what a woman is. Three boys that look to me as what a woman should be, how to treat a woman, how to love a woman, how to respect a woman. And that empowers me more than any “I am woman hear me roar” campaign out there. I have to mold my young boys into decent men, I have to show them that a woman can be successful in business, a woman deserves the utmost respect, a woman can be anything and that’s just as wonderful as you becoming anything you desire as you are equal beings. I have to lead by example, show them how much a woman is capable of and how strong we are, yet show them how fragile we can be and gently we should be treated as well. I have to raise my boys to be men that will never hurt or look down on, abuse or harass, never discriminate against any woman for any reason. To be proud to be who they are but to never think they are above any woman just because they are a man. What can’t be changed or fixed now in our society can be mended for our future fellow women. Not by man shaming, and hating. 

This is what the real movement should be: Mothers raise your sons right so we don’t have to do this anymore. So there’s no more #metoo, so there’s no more fear of being alone with men, so there’s no more inappropriate comments. So future women get the same opportunities and pay as their male colleagues because their bosses will BE our sons we have raised differently and they won’t draw that line and make those decisions, they won’t turn the other way. Raise them right so we can have a future generation of girls that don’t need “girl power” campaigns because they have never nor will ever feel power-less. So we don’t have a future generation of men like some of the disgusting and cruel men out there today. Make it ok for them to be emotional and compassionate make it important for them to be kind. And fathers raise your sons to be strong but never big headed, be tough for what is important and leave all that typical guy, no feelings shit behind. Raise your sons to take care of THEIR wives THEIR daughters and be outspoken about how they should be treated. Fathers show your sons the way, raise them to love their mother as strongly as you love her but to fear her fierceness too, and they will take that with them into adulthood. I am the strongest, most powerful woman, because in my hands lies three future men of the world, and I have the responsibility to teach them how to, and pave the way for them to, become good men, good people. I have the privilege and opportunity to send out into the world three beautiful people that will know better and know wrong from right, and practice what they were taught. So if you have sons, and I’ve heard this multiple times this week alone, don’t say you “don’t know what to say to them when all they see is the uplifting of girls on the news and social media, girl power commercials, woman pride” and “where is the empowerment and uplifting of little boys? How does my son feel not having boy power”. It’s hard for men these days? No no no. YOU are their guide, explain why we need to be having this conversation about gender equality, still. Why we need to be having these conversations about boundaries and limits with woman. Explain why right now girls need to know they are strong and powerful because of the past making us feel weak and unheard. Don’t let your boys feel slighted or left out, talk to them about why these things are happening and what has happened in the past to get to this point. Take the ultimate job of raising your boys to be respectful and fair and kind and understanding men, and we will not have to have these issues plague us going further. Stop it now and make your little boys practice respect and humility and equality and they will take that with them into their life later the way you want adult men to act now. We won’t have to worry about our sons being categorized as monsters and sexists and ignorant because of the generalized inferiority of woman most men have and were raised seeing. If we as woman don’t take the responsibility to make sure we are not creating those stereotypes and raise them to be better than the generations before them, then we are fighting and standing up for nothing. Be the change you want to see in the world. Ladies we can raise hell or raise honest boys to be wonderful men, what’s gonna have the best outcome? We as women have the power to control the future for other women, by raising and giving them better men, not by standing still in protest.

Danielle Cohen