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| My hunka hunka burnin' love |
Son, Husband, Father …..These are the three most important
titles that a man can have in his life (eternal and temporal). I am grateful
for the brothers, husband, fathers, and grandfathers in my life whether they
are related through blood, marriage, or even friendship. I am truly overwhelmed by the
gratitude I have for these men. I feel
that the importance of these roles in families are too often belittled in our
over zealousness to support women and women’s rights. I wish we would spend
more building up the importance of both men and women!
Yes, women can do anything they set their minds too! I spent
most of my childhood with my Mom being a single parent. I also spent time with grandmothers,
aunts, and neighbor women who are strong, determined, and capable women who
were not intimidated by gender roles. So why do we need to put men down in the process
of elevating women? Yes women were and sometimes are still treated as second class citizens. Thankfully this is happening less and less. Yes. there
are men who were and are cruel and horrendous towards women BUT there are also many
men who are kind, loving, and respectful of women. Men who take being a son, husband,
and father seriously! Too often we as women say we can do everything ourselves
and rob men of the importance of their roles. We (intentionally and unintentionally) strip them of their identity
and lower our expectations for them and then wonder why men are only meeting our low expectations. Thus, reaffirming stereotype that men our “useless and
worthless.” It’s a type of self-fulfilling prophesy: we lower our expectation
of their importance’s and capabilities and then act mad when they only meet
these expectations. For example, on TV married men with children are often portrayed as over weight, lower IQ's, and lazy. While their wives a fit, cute, smart hard working women. What kind of message does that send to the rising generation of men? What kind of message is this sending to women?
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| Justin with his dad and brothers |
I am grateful to the then men in my life who have recognized
their value and importance’s in the family. For the men who respect themselves
and those around them especially, the women in their lives. I am grateful for the
men who believe that marriage and family is a team effort where everyone works
together. I am grateful for my grandpas, dad, step dad, and father in law who
have been examples to their sons of how men should treat and respect ALL they
come in contact with. I am grateful to my wonderful husband who supports me in
my roles as a wife, mother, daughter, and friend. I am grateful for his never
ending support and encouragement as I tackle new challenges and cultivate new
skills. Most of all I am grateful for a
husband who takes his titles of son, husband, and father seriously.
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| My Daddio and I on my wedding Day |
Belittling and negativity never helped anyone reach their full
potential. Let’s build each other up so that we may allbe our best selves who work
together as a team.
