Status Updates From How to Raise a Feminist Son...

“If you can be her friend through all of this and you know you both are sure and you are adults, go for it” (chapter 8)

“I am a feminist but I had to raise myself to be one. My son is a feminist because someone raised him that way. He had a head start. I meanwhile still sometimes don’t hear the starting pistol.” (Chapter 13): this one is just an important reminder for me as someone who may be in the role of the son in my own life within this quote.

“I saw him go from libertarian in middle school to socialist in a year or two later, and he got there because he loved being challenged. But he really listened to people and their struggles.” (Chapter 13): Another reminder that challenging intimidatingly intelligent men can still have a long term positive impact if done well.

“I heard these stories because Gibran did an interview with her for a research assignment. He learned all this and much more about his grandmother on a phone call from Seattle to Mumbai.” (Chapter 13): A reminder that sometimes as a child you can be a bridge between your parent and their parents in a feminist way.

“I recognize that perhaps a woman’s most feminist act is to forgive herself.” (chapter 12) This line in the chapter titled “What if I slip up?” hit me right in the heart. It really makes me look through a window into the gendered role thrust upon women in the world.

“These days though I am drawn to a sport called extreme Feminism. Just kidding, we’re not calling it a sport yet. But yes, I am drawn to the feminism of women like Mona Eltahawy a self described impolite feminist.” (Chapter 2)

“I want to say something about how they’re being judgmental, but I want to have them, at least as some kind of community. To be in the company of women can be the most beautiful empowering raucously fun thing. Sooner or later the cracks start to appear and the patriarchal norms seep in, like hidden instructions on the e-vite to the potluck.” (Chapter 2)

“A part of me, then paused to wonder if my plan to raise him as a feminist would be good for the world, yes, but perhaps set him back. Why not let him stay in a deep sleep, instead of use his tender heart, and limbs, and brain for a cause that didn’t celebrate him? Fortunately, I started to read everything I could find on feminism and its benefits for boys.” (chapter 1)

Going to the movies set up a healthy activity that could be examined from the feminist lens together. Another factor explained through the Jordan Peele’s “Us” anecdote is that it must be shown that we are all in some form outsiders (nontraditional family unit). Finally, at some point these conversations need to implement a respect for dissent (in the legal, disagreeing with the majority sense).