Do We Protect Our Daughters More Than Our Sons?
Being a dad I have often wondered if we instinctively protect our daughters more than we do our sons. Is it something that is inherited in us, possibly from our parents, that our daughters need looking after more? Is there more chance that harm can happen to our daughters than our sons in today’s world?
Of course this is probably an outdated view that belongs in the 1950’s when women were considered fragile and timid. It was a completely different world then, but are we treating our daughters differently? To a large extent I guess we are. I am certainly trying to encourage and instill in my daughters to be strong, independent and ambitious women, and to feel no boundaries or restrictions, and not allow society to dictate to them in anyway about how they live their lives.
When it comes to my one and only son, I don’t have exactly the same thoughts, but maybe I should? I mean harm could just as easily happen to him as it could to my daughters. He could be held back in trying to achieve his dreams just as easily as my daughters could. It’s almost that society expects him to go on and achieve whatever he wants to do, that it is a given. Sadly I’m wrong. It’s an old fashioned stereotypical attitude because my son could easily need protecting from harm, and just because he is male doesn’t mean he won’t find pitfalls in life.
So why do we as a society find the need to protect our daughters more than our sons? The belief that as a man he doesn’t need protecting is total nonsense. All the dangers in life are there for young men as they are for young ladies.
We of course can’t keep them in a bubble. That in itself would be a disservice to them because they need to make mistakes and quite often that is the only way they will learn. So although it’s important to possibly shield them from certain aspects of life, it’s important to show them the dangers sons and daughters.
Is it natural to protect daughters more than sons? I don’t think it should be. I would love to hear what your thoughts are.
1 Comments
John Adams
September 27, 2018 at 1:25 pm
It’s an interesting discussion point Nigel. In reality, boys are much more likely to be victims of physical attack than girls. I don’t think it is instinctive, I think it’s taught behaviour. How often have you heard the phrase “Women and children first”??