I Hated Feminism... Until I Had Sons.

In my young and naive teens, I completely hated the idea of feminism.
All I knew of feminists were the stereotypes:
Man-haters
Bra-burners
Hairy armpits
Loud and angry
I mean, these ladies just needed to lighten up, right?!

I'm glad to say that I know better now, but it took me until motherhood to figure this out. Specifically, it took two little boys.
Of course feministic ideals benefit women and girls, but there is a good amount of benefits for the men in our lives as well. I wish we could just eradicate the word "feminism" from our dictionaries because I believe it implies that to be a feminist is to be feminine in some way. It's drilled into the minds of men and boys that they should not be feminine, so automatically they won't even entertain the idea of identifying as a feminist.
I would love to think that it's the only reason that some men aren't on board with feminism, although it isn't the case. But that's a post for another day.

When these little boys came into my life, I automatically started to think about what they will grow up to be like. Will they like cars or barbies? Sports or dance? Boys or girls? Blue or pink? I would love and accept them either way.

But would society?

From toddlers being called f****ts to dads masculinity being called out for doing their daughters hair, it's clear that equality needs to be attainable for both our sons and our daughters.
The thought of my boys being ridiculed for wearing a hairband, or playing with baby dolls, or even being a stay at home dad some day really upset me, so I started to search for ways I could make a difference in the way our society perceives masculinity.
My research always brought me back to one place: feminism.

At that time, I struggled with making the connection between my little boys and feminism. In fact, it felt downright counterintuitive.  Didn't feminists HATE men? But I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong, and my idea of what feminism is, was very very wrong. Any woman that hates men is absolutely not a feminist.

I would love to protect my little boys hearts from all the ugly hate in the world but unfortunately I can't always be there to do that. It's up to me to teach them to hold their heads high and be who they want to be despite what others might have to say about it. They'll know how to stand up for others that don't know how to stand up for themselves, and I have hopes that there are enough parents out there raising their children the same way. Maybe one day we can retire the word 'feminism' and make humanism happen.