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"Don't ask me what I did. Ask me what I did not do. I did not clip her wings, and that's all."— Malala Yousafzai's dad
My dad, too.
As a toddler he would strap me in a backpack & go on long hikes, exploring nature: forests, streams, hills. He took me to the library every week.
My dad, too.
As a toddler he would strap me in a backpack & go on long hikes, exploring nature: forests, streams, hills. He took me to the library every week.
My dad called himself the “laundry king." He learned how to French braid my hair & would spray my hair every morning with “No More Tears” tangle spray & put it in two braids. He equally shared parenting. It wasn’t special that he did laundry & braided my hair.
It was sensible.
It was sensible.
When I was five years he asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.
“Judge or a waitress,” I replied.
He let me know implicitly & explicitly from that very young age that I could be, & would be, anything I wanted.
“Judge or a waitress,” I replied.
He let me know implicitly & explicitly from that very young age that I could be, & would be, anything I wanted.
In high school my dad gave me an internship at the local newspaper he ran. He lent me his camera, taught me how to use it & let me take photos of community events for print.
He trusted me. He let me grow.
He trusted me. He let me grow.
When I was a Mormon missionary in Barcelona, Spain my dad sent one postcard a day to me the entire 18 months. He made them himself, cut out of cardstock & decorated. They were eccentric reminders that he never forgot about me.
Not even for one day.
Not even for one day.
My dad is the kind of father you would find in a world where the word “feminist” is not needed. Where the fact that women & men are equal is so very apparent & obvious that stating it goes completely w/out saying. Gender parity comes naturally.
It's not a gift, it's a given.
It's not a gift, it's a given.
When I told my dad (a convert to Mormonism for 30 years, at that point) I wanted to start a group called Ordain Women, he said, “you were born for this” & started preparing a profile, even knowing what he had sacrificed to be Mormon.
Which, was a lot. https://ordainwomen.org/project/hi-im-jim/
Which, was a lot. https://ordainwomen.org/project/hi-im-jim/
After I was excommunicated, he went to church one final time. It was Fast & Testimony meeting (audience speaks extemporaneously) & he told the entire congregation that I had done nothing wrong. He said that THEY should be ashamed.
He walked away that day & never went back.
He walked away that day & never went back.
Girls learn by example, & I have learned:
A father is someone who stands up for his daughters.
A father is someone who looks at his girl children & sees possibility. He propels their potential.
A father is someone who stands up for his daughters.
A father is someone who looks at his girl children & sees possibility. He propels their potential.
A father is someone who lets you know, every day of your life, that your worth has nothing to do w how you look, what other people say abt you or who you are partnered with.
A father has your back.
Happy Father's Day this week to all who love your kids so unconditionally
A father has your back.
Happy Father's Day this week to all who love your kids so unconditionally
(And, yes. I know I look exactly like him 
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There is no better way to build confident women than to have parents who support them without reservation.
/fin
/fin
