Dear Mother of a Boy,
Now more than ever, in a world that teaches boys that girls matter less, it's on you to make sure your precious little boy knows better.
It's on you to be louder when talking to your teenage son than the noise in the locker room or on TV.
It's on you to explain to your son that standing up to protect a girl is a sign of a man who's stronger than any man who might harm one.
It's on you, but it always has been on you, and you know that. However, the game has changed. The years of progress, which by many measures has come up desperately short for equality, are being erased as we watch right now.
The protections you may have taken for granted on the playground and at the workplace are shaky at best, and nonexistent at worst for the girls who are growing up with your son.
The world has changed, seemingly almost overnight.
Mom, you must teach your boy to respect and value his female friends and his girlfriends.
You must teach him to understand that although he might be stronger in some ways, women will be his strength.
You must teach your boy that women of all shapes, sizes, and colors are beautiful for more than just their bodies.
Teach him how to fall in love with a girl's mind and treasure her body.
Teach your boy that women's rights are human rights and everyone's rights are worth protecting.
Mom, in a Universe where the new President of the United States bragged about grabbing pussies, you can't take consent for granted. Teach your boy that no means no and that yes might only mean maybe. Teach him to get out in the world and take what's his, but that a woman's body is never going to be his to take.
I am the mother of a boy, and so are you. It's on us now just like it always has been. However, things are different than they've ever been before.
For us, as the mothers of boys, the most subversive act of revolution we can possibly engage in is to raise our boys to be feminists.