Feminism isn’t a scary term reserved for radical women – it’s a man’s job, too

My mother’s father was not the prime example of a good father. As she puts it, “He left our family due to an affair with another woman when I was 12 years old… I did not see much of him after he left even though he lived within 15 miles of our home.  He was not good at keeping in touch… even with me, his youngest daughter who adored him as a child.”

Years later, enter: my dad.

In honor of Father’s Day, I would like to out him to the world. Thank you dad for being a strong-willed, feminist father. Thank you for making me the person I am today.

My dad is a lot of things. He’s a football watching, whiskey drinking, cigar smoking, presidential “challenge coin” holding, war veteran, and a feminist. There are many who might think that these things cannot go together but, trust me, they definitely do.

He’s the man who taught me the importance of seeing the world, studying math and science, my civic duty to be informed and participate in politics, and feminism.

When he came back from his first tour in Kuwait, he took three months to road trip around the United States, just the two of us, showing me many of the most beautiful and historic sites our country has to offer. In retrospect, however, I realize that the most important lesson I learned during the time we spent together was that he gave me an example of a present father whose daughter mattered to him more than anything.

I asked him when he started identifying as a feminist and he said, “I think awhile before you were born. Having grown up with two sisters had very little influence, I think. Probably as much as anything, I was a survivor of child abuse from my dad starting as a young child and continued throughout my teens until I graduated High School and moved away. It made me much more empathetic to others who were subjected to violent situations; the underdog and those less fortunate.”

So I would like to make an example of my father. My present, loving father. My feminist father. I hope that other men will take him as an example. Feminism isn’t a scary term reserved for radical women. It’s a man’s job, too. And it isn’t a difficult one. It really is just like my mother’s old bumper sticker said, it’s the “radical notion that women are people.” For all the fathers and men out there who believe that women deserve to be treated as capable humans, I raise my glass to you -today and everyday.

Give a shout out to your #feministfather to let them know they are appreciated.