DS and feminism

We were discussing the best thing about living in Australia when DS9 said that the best thing is that women and men are equal.

Whilst I'm happy that it is his experience of the world for now, how and when do I explain the inequalities that exist?

I guess sometime after telling him about Santa but before he hits puberty???

It’s a great time in Australia to have these conversations. A good place to start (because it’s so simple to understand yet enraging) might be to google Equal Pay Day Australia with your son. Last year it was the 28th of August. A man would only need to work from 1 Jan to 28th August to earn what a woman would earn all year in Australia.

My son is 9 and my daughter 11 and we’ve been discussing this stuff for several years. I’m actively working to raise two feminists in my house.

DS wants to come to the march with me on Monday but DD has a special class Monday so I want them to go to school.

I've been talking to 10 yr old DD for years about it.

When we watch the news and something comes up on that, or in a book she's reading, comments people make etc.

Certainly having a daughter has opened my eyes to just how far we still need to go and how entrenched sexism and the patriarchy is still.

Definitely now. DD is 9 too and we’ve been discussing it for years. Even just basic stuff like how the split of gender in books, movies, tv shows is so skewed. And talk about how women are portrayed in all of the above.

As a teacher of 9 and 10 year olds, I have discussed gender inequalities and feminism in class. It is expected background knowledge for texts they are reading.

Another one here who has a 9 year old and talking about it for years. She had quite a few interests that were stereotypically masculine, so others have been commenting for years. I needed to let her know about the ridiculousness of gender stereotypes and why people reinforced them so she could be strong enough to pursue her interests despite exclusion or push back.

@dianalynch So amazing for someone so young.