Raising Feminist Boys

Are you a mother or a parent who wants raise a feminist son but feels overwhelmed in the face of ever increasing misogynistic world?

Who feels completely lost in how to shift the rise in misogyny? Who desperately wants a way to reduce male violence against women and girls? And who craves a world where men love, and are able to have emotionally fulfilling, connected and meaningful relationships with us? Where there is an equitable split, and deep reverence the work of emotional labour that so many women seem to solely hold in heterosexual relationships?

At the same time, do you notice yourself having thoughts such as:

• ‘How do I protect him from the outside patriarchal influences and peer pressure’

• ‘I want to talk to him about feminism but I don’t know where to start

• ‘I don’t want my little boy to feel shame or guilt about being a boy, I don’t want to make him feel less

• ‘boys are just *insert stereotype here* whilst girls are *insert stereotype here*

• ‘I worry I won’t have as close, connected relationship with him when he grows up’

• ‘I just won’t know what to do with a boy’

In the words of Bell Hooks:

The first act of violence that patriarchy demands of males is not violence toward women. Instead patriarchy demands of all males that they engage in acts of psychic self-mutilation, that they kill off the emotional parts of themselves.

And this will be the focus of our workshop. If we want to raise feminist boys, we must first address the first act of violence that patriarchy demand of males; that they kill off the emotional parts of themselves. We begin at the beginning; tending to the emotional parts of our boys. We need to challenge internalized patriarchal stereotypes (within others and within ourselves) that tell us that our little boys are not capable of being caring, of being emotional, of being connected to the vulnerable, soft and gentle parts of themselves.

And this is our foundation to do the work of raising feminist sons.

In this workshop you will learn:

• Exploration of what experiences for boys cultivate feminist allyship in adulthood

• Bringing into consciousness the harmful societal stories you may unconsciously hold about boyhood

• Ways to observe how these narratives may be playing out in your relationship with your son(s) & learning how to challenge these narratives, developing with your son, new more helpful stories

• Cultivating relationships of emotional connection to our sons: seeing and being with the child in front of us

• Practical ways to talk to your son about patriarchy (and other systems of oppression such as racism, ableism, classism)

• Practical actions to take to foster feminist values of respect and equity (including consent)

• Bringing the whole family in (developing shared family values as a base to withstand societal pressures and model equitable and respectful relationships)