There’s an interesting tenet that goes along with several of the major religions, girls and women are not equals. In recent times, several folks within the established religions have pushed back and some even balked at the idea that there is not real equity in these religions.
The tenets of the idea that the male is the dominant and superior sex sets up a lifelong struggle for the boy, who eventually becomes a man (for argument’s sake) to always and forever feel as though he is superior.
This brings a host of issues with this ethos that are not all that easy to shake off or deconstruct.
Raising any human to think they are superior in any way to another automatically puts the individual in a place where they no longer feel the need to be fully compassionate, to be empathetic. Any help comes from a place of perceived superiority and thus is more of a hand out than a genuine action.
Superiority in males has been a destructive and oppressive force in this world since recorded history. It comes from a dark place and has the very real consequence of dehumanizing others.
When others are dehumanized it becomes easy to dismiss them, to harm them, to think in terms of owning them.
If you are raising your boys in this thought process, you will have an uphill battle in keeping them from treating other sexes and genders with the respect and equity all deserve.
To break this cycle there needs to be very poignant conversations regarding the equity of others.
You will need to take a stand on how you want your sons to grow as men. There is a multitude of psychological studies showing correlations between domestic violence and the belief that men are superior than all else. This thinking must stop if we are to break the systemically violent pattern.
It starts with the boys.
