Today is a special day, a day to recognize mothers, wives, sisters, cousins, friends, BFF, colleagues, a day to celebrate women. It’s a day to celebrate life as women bear life and give life.
It is very important to teach the other half of the world how important the role of a woman is for humanity. It is as important as the role of men.
We as women have a duty to ourselves in teaching our sons, our little brothers, our nephews, our little male cousins, our students, our male campers to understand, to respect, and to value women’s role. This teaching is as important for boys as it is for girls.
Women play an important role in the education of boys. A role as important as men’s. It is essential that we as women ensure our kids, our boys are drivers of change. If we want changes tomorrow, we have to start today by infusing the next generation with respect for their mothers, sisters, female cousins, classmates, campers, friends.
As Michelle Obama brilliantly said:
“No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens.”
What I would try to instill in my son
- I would tell my son that women bear life and give birth. They are mothers like me who learnt to love their children more than themselves. I would show my sons how many moms sacrifice themselves everyday to shelter, to feed, to protect, to push their children in life, and to be there for them even when they are miles away from her. I would make him understand that a mom’s love is something irreplaceable. A mom is the foundation of society.
- I would explain to my son that moms are teachers. They teach life at home, they transfer knowledge at school, they instill fun and life skills at the community centre, they show how to be respectful and humble at church, they create fun and adventures at camp.
- I would make my son understand that women are equal professionals. They are doctors and nurses who heal body at the hospital and soul at home. They are firefighters who extinguish fires at fire site and soothe flaming tensions and pains at home. They are engineers who design spaceships, conceive earthquake-resistant buildings and infrastructures to withstand quakes and save lives. They are managers, lawyers, politicians, accountants who take daily political, economic, cultural, and social decisions to secure our social institutions, generate economic growth, foster cultural diversity, and protect their nation and the ones they love.
- I would go on by detailing to my son that women are in every sphere of work and just like men are doing a phenomenal job in contributing to their community’s growth and well-being. Whether they are chefs, cooks, bus drivers, singers, actresses, nannies, pharmacists, secretaries, receptionists, police officers, models, writers, journalists, movie directors, game designers, fashion designers, computer programmers and analysts, architects, archeologists, TV broadcasters, entrepreneurs and so on, their contribution is vital for our society.
- I would teach my son how to do chores, so he would never think that household chores are women’s work. My son would learn to clean his bedroom, wash and fold his clothes, do the dishes, help clean the house, do groceries and prepare dishes, clean the garden and the backyard.
- My son would be entitled to the same curfew, bedtime, money allowance that I would give my daughter. He would have to work as much at school and put similar efforts in accomplishing his homework and extra-curricular activities. I would interest my son to both sports and arts as I would do for my daughter. All to teach my son that he is equal to all girls, leading him to realize later on that he is equal to all women. After all, it is in the little detail that we can realize the greatest achievement.
- Finally, I would make sure to always include respect in the way I am communicating with my son to teach him respect for himself, so he can in return respect others. I would try very hard to transfer to my son respect for all livings, for nature. I would teach my son to love, to love himself and others. Therefore, I would make sure that my son can respect and love his sister or sisters, female classmates, peers, colleagues, wives, and friends. I would ensure that my son is able to honour women everyday.
What I am teaching my daughter
However, I don’t have a son. I have a daughter, so I am trying to teach her everything I would teach my son. I am also trying to teach her to love and be proud of herself, that being a girl and later a woman is awesome. I am trying to instill into my daughter that she can be anything she wants to be as long as she puts the necessary effort to work hard and succeed. I am trying to teach my daughter that everything has a price, that life works like gravity: whatever you throw comes back to you, so she will be able to make careful decisions.
I am treating my daughter like a friend, I am trying to always be there for her when she needs me because I believe that solidarity between women should start at home. Mother-daughter, sisters, cousins, friends.
Yes, I don’t have a son! So, I am calling on all mothers of son to teach their son to respect, love, and value women as they do for themselves.
I am calling on every woman to teach their little cousins, nephews, students, campers to respect women, to celebrate the gift of having a mother, a sister, a cousin or a female teacher who are here for them when needed.
