In the mind of the world wide web, where false realities are perceived as certainties, my son received an education not of life, but fake lessons.
To correct the course, I turned to him and declared,
Real men don’t threaten or hit women
Real men acknowledge their faults
Real men don’t keep blaming others
Real men accept their partners as equals
Real men don’t belittle women
Real men trust
Real men don’t impose their will on others
Real men support their partners
Real men don’t take their inadequacies out on others
Real men look after their kids, feed, clothe, ensure they have everything they need
Real men clean up
Real men have their own thoughts
Real men are not influenced by others
Real men teach right from wrong
Real men don’t automatically believe others and what they read, they think critically
Real men stand up for injustice, they are not sheep
Real men don’t belittle their partners to their children in order to curry their favour
Real men accept others, faults and all
Real men accept responsibility for their actions
Real men think and learn
Real men know that no means no
Real men don’t need to prove how hard they are, living on past glories
Real men protect the weak and vulnerable
Real men don’t need to prove their manliness
Real men cry
Real men don’t try to control and manipulate others
Real men accept that others may have differing views
Real men don’t attack others for how they look
Real men are comfortable in their own skin
Real men lead
Real men love
If you can do all these then you will be a man my son.