There’s so much in the news lately that makes you think about your role as a man, especially for me – a father of two beautiful daughters. There are so many obstacles and threats that women are faced with – particularly from men – that I want to make sure they are never quite protected from. That’s why I’m committed to creating a world where my daughters will deal with the same struggles and exactly the same level of support that women are receiving today.
I want my daughters to live in a world where they can enter any field of work that they want, and then face a much harder road than their male peers while the men around them say, “Wow women have it hard,” but don’t actually do anything to help.
It’s only fair that my daughters should be granted the same respect I’ve given my female colleagues. I can only hope that they are treated exactly the same.
You see, I love women – which is why I’ve always gone out of my way to compliment them, teach them new things, let them know when they look nice in a dress at work, and then if they said it bothered them I’d explain that sorry, I was just trying to be nice. Is it wrong for a man to want that exact level of chivalry for his daughters?
If my daughters are – God forbid – assaulted, I want them to live in a world where sensitive men like me turn to them and ask, “Are you sure that’s what happened? I’m gonna need all the facts.” It’s just nice to help people get the record straight before they subject themselves to the judgment of other less sensitive men than myself. And if somehow, there is proof on tape of my daughter having been assaulted by a man, I pray that there are kind men like me to respond by saying, “What a monster, I never would have known. I can’t believe it.”
Ultimately the world is full of terrible things that can’t be prevented but that we can all be very sorry about and I want to keep it that way – for my beautiful daughters. I guess it would be hard for some men to understand, but I get it because I have daughters. I know what life is like for women because I’m constantly telling them about it. In the end, I can only hope that my daughters get to experience a world where their only limits are the bounds of my own moral imagination. And if I have anything to say about it, that’s how it will stay.
