Inadvertent Lessons

Sometimes, teachers impart the most important lessons just by being themselves. Sometimes, the teachers are unpleasant, and that really drives home the lesson in a way the teacher didn't even anticipate.

I never want to be one of these teachers. I never want people to hope I will retire. I never want people to think that I am a jerk who doesn't listen to their opinion and value it even though it differs from my own.

Part of the lesson one of my daughters learned today is that, even in 2014, there are still some people who think that "feminism" is a bad thing and who will use their rhetoric and position to try to subtly denigrate women.

So let's just review, shall we?

fem·i·nism

noun \ˈfe-mə-ˌni-zəm\ : the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities

On the upside, my child now really understands what the women in the 1960s were facing.

A valuable lesson, yes.

But so very, very sad.