#NoMore #MeToo for the Next Generation
I say #NoMore #MeToo for the next generation. We can stop this! As active and engaged parents, caregivers, educators and health professionals we can help stop sexual assault, so our kids will grow into adulthood free from sexploitation, misogyny, gender inequality and sexual assault. How do we do this? We EDUCATE our kids — the next generation — from the day they are born. Kids need to know: 1. that they have rights, a voice and body autonomy 2. that they have choices 3. what consent means in regards to giving it, asking for it and withdrawing consent at anytime...
#NoMore #MeToo for the Next Generation
I say #NoMore #MeToo for the next generation. We can stop this! As active and engaged parents, caregivers, educators and health professionals we can help stop sexual assault, so our kids will grow into adulthood free from sexploitation, misogyny, gender inequality and sexual assault. How do we do this? We EDUCATE our kids — the next generation — from the day they are born. Kids need to know: 1. that they have rights, a voice and body autonomy 2. that they have choices 3. what consent means in regards to giving it, asking for it and withdrawing consent at anytime...
What does: to transition from one’s assigned gender at birth to another gender mean if we take aw...
Warning! This article includes many questions; most unanswered as I grapple with what it is to be female or male. Let’s have a closer look at the title question in terms of a child born with male genitalia transitioning to living and socializing as a female, and a child born with female genitalia transitioning to living and socializing as a male. So here is my second question: What does it mean to be female and what does it mean to be male in a social context — ignoring the fact that both genders obviously differ physically? My next question: When...
What does: to transition from one’s assigned gender at birth to another gender mean if we take aw...
Warning! This article includes many questions; most unanswered as I grapple with what it is to be female or male. Let’s have a closer look at the title question in terms of a child born with male genitalia transitioning to living and socializing as a female, and a child born with female genitalia transitioning to living and socializing as a male. So here is my second question: What does it mean to be female and what does it mean to be male in a social context — ignoring the fact that both genders obviously differ physically? My next question: When...
Don’t Tell Me I’m Pretty, Tell Me I’m Smart
‘Don’t tell me I’m pretty, tell me I’m smart … and funny, artistic, kind, loving, friendly, unique, strong, fierce and clever. I am so much more than pretty.’ When relatives or family friends are introduced to a young girl, they will often open the conversation with something like this ... ‘Hello! You look pretty today. Your dress is beautiful.’ Don’t worry, we are all guilty of it; but by focusing only on a young girl’s physical appearance, what we are actually saying is this is what society values most about you. It is important for us to shift our focus...
Don’t Tell Me I’m Pretty, Tell Me I’m Smart
‘Don’t tell me I’m pretty, tell me I’m smart … and funny, artistic, kind, loving, friendly, unique, strong, fierce and clever. I am so much more than pretty.’ When relatives or family friends are introduced to a young girl, they will often open the conversation with something like this ... ‘Hello! You look pretty today. Your dress is beautiful.’ Don’t worry, we are all guilty of it; but by focusing only on a young girl’s physical appearance, what we are actually saying is this is what society values most about you. It is important for us to shift our focus...
Tips to Promote Gender Equality in Your Classroom
As classroom teachers we have an ideal opportunity to encourage gender equality and respectful relationships in our classroom through very simple but effective practices. Research tells us in order to reduce gender-based violence we need to teach these skills to children from the earliest of years. Our differences make us unique but it is our ‘sameness’ that makes us human. The message we have the opportunity to promote in our classroom is that no matter what gender we are, we all have hopes and dreams, and we all need to treat each other with respect and dignity. No gender is...
Tips to Promote Gender Equality in Your Classroom
As classroom teachers we have an ideal opportunity to encourage gender equality and respectful relationships in our classroom through very simple but effective practices. Research tells us in order to reduce gender-based violence we need to teach these skills to children from the earliest of years. Our differences make us unique but it is our ‘sameness’ that makes us human. The message we have the opportunity to promote in our classroom is that no matter what gender we are, we all have hopes and dreams, and we all need to treat each other with respect and dignity. No gender is...
A DUMMIES’ Guide for Teenage Boys in How to Respect Girls
1. Treat girls as human because that is what they are. They breathe and they have feelings. Your words and actions can cause lasting damage. Think before you speak and act. 2. No slut-shaming*. Girls have the right to wear whatever they like without fear of being sexually assaulted. What they are wearing or the fact that they enjoy sex is not an invitation for you to make unwanted sexual advances or speak about or to a girl in slut-shaming terms. 3. When a girl says ‘NO’ to anything she means ‘NO!’ She does not mean ‘maybe’ or ‘I’m not...
A DUMMIES’ Guide for Teenage Boys in How to Respect Girls
1. Treat girls as human because that is what they are. They breathe and they have feelings. Your words and actions can cause lasting damage. Think before you speak and act. 2. No slut-shaming*. Girls have the right to wear whatever they like without fear of being sexually assaulted. What they are wearing or the fact that they enjoy sex is not an invitation for you to make unwanted sexual advances or speak about or to a girl in slut-shaming terms. 3. When a girl says ‘NO’ to anything she means ‘NO!’ She does not mean ‘maybe’ or ‘I’m not...
How Fathers Can Affect Their Daughters’ Take on the World
My husband and I have three amazing daughters, all young women now who are seeking out life’s adventures and their place in the world. In my recent children’s book on gender equality ‘Pearl Fairweather Pirate Captain’ I wrote the following dedication to my husband: “To my wonderful husband, Mark, because from the moment we met, equality was always a given.” And there it is! Equality! The key word to how we have always and will continue to parent. And from that basis, I will endeavour to list all the things I believe my husband as a feminist father has given...
How Fathers Can Affect Their Daughters’ Take on the World
My husband and I have three amazing daughters, all young women now who are seeking out life’s adventures and their place in the world. In my recent children’s book on gender equality ‘Pearl Fairweather Pirate Captain’ I wrote the following dedication to my husband: “To my wonderful husband, Mark, because from the moment we met, equality was always a given.” And there it is! Equality! The key word to how we have always and will continue to parent. And from that basis, I will endeavour to list all the things I believe my husband as a feminist father has given...